


Breaking the Bad News

by Sheyshen



Series: The Hawke Legacy [5]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, I don't even know if I should tag all the characters that show up, I'm still not sure if I'm capturing Arcann's personality right, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence, force sensitive smuggler, jedi turned smuggler, sith versus smuggler goes about as well as it sounds, slowly leads to polyamory between the three tho, that's why they're both tagged, will update tags as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2018-09-17 19:56:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 47,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9340892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheyshen/pseuds/Sheyshen
Summary: Kara heads out to deliver the news of Vette's death to her sister, and runs into a surprising person while she's there. And he's not too thrilled to see her. (Let's just say I suck at summaries and the story goes muuuch further than just a bad day for my outlander)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of connected to my previous fic, "A Moment", but isn't a continuation of it.  
> As a heads up I mention a few members of Kara's family. Nora is her best friend and adoptive sister, she is currently missing and a sith warrior. Trey is Nora's twin brother, also a sith warrior. Koro is Kara's older brother, and a smuggler like she is.

                 Before he had joined the Alliance, Kara had treated each interaction with Arcann as a game. Not that she didn't see him as a serious threat, the scar she sported on her stomach was a constant reminder of the danger he could be. But each time they spoke, she could tell how he was affected by the things she said. A jab at his ego and he would attack, an offhand flirt would go over his head, kindness towards him and he acted as if he was both insulted and confused.

                She had offered to stand down when he had asked on Asylum, he was surprised, but she could tell he was grateful. She had meant it, too, but Valkorian interfered and the situation turned violent. So many times she attempted to end things peacefully, until finally, at the boulevard, he offered her his loyalty and vowed to atone. Since then the war had escalated and Kara had no time to focus on the thoughts intruding in her mind, thoughts of him, and what could happen once there was peace.

                She couldn't deny that he had become more open around her, and in turn she caught herself relying on him more than once. Then came the fight against Vaylin and soon after against Valkorian for a final time.  Kara could not even imagine what she would've done without Arcann at her side. A time of peace was settling over the galaxy, now was a time to cool down and face the choices that were made, and the losses they suffered.

                Vette's death was one that ate at her. She had chosen to back up Torian, confident that Vette would be able to find a way to save herself. Kara’s decision was also heavily based on her respect for the Mandalorian and the growing connection she felt toward Torian. He had become like a brother to her, whether or not he felt the same.

                Kara sighed in thought, her legs tucked under her as she attempted to settle her rampaging thoughts. So much had happened, and she couldn't help but focus on the mistakes she made.

                Would anything have changed if she tried to save Vette instead? Would Torian have died in the twi'lek's place? And if that had happened, would she have been able to continue her fight after loosing someone so close to her heart. They weren't blood, she had to remind herself. They looked as if they were related, but in the end they weren't. Her brother, Koro was on Coruscant city helping with repairs, while her adoptive brother and sister were still missing.Tears stung her closed eyes as she thought of them, her mind locking onto the final thought; Trey was Vette's husband, she would have to tell him what happened.

                Taking a deep breath and pushing it out slowly, Kara shifted her thoughts, moving her focus to more uplifting events. The eternal empire was stopped, and the emperor was gone forever. Kara had assumed the throne to take his place, though she still disliked the idea of ruling and being confined to one place. At least had her friends by her side, Senya, Lana, Arcann, and Theron. They were there for her, and the thought of Theron being there for her every step of the way warmed her heart.

                A knock at the door pulled her from her reflection. "It's open." she called out as she pulled her legs out from under her as the door whooshed open.

                Pierce glanced around a moment before giving her a lazy smile as he held up a datapad. He had been tasked to find any of Vette's surviving family. Since Pierce had traveled with the twi'lek along with Nora years back, she figured he may know more than even Lana. ."I found the last location of Vette's sister..." His heavy accent was laced with exhaustion. "Tivva." he said as he approached the smuggler, "She's been working in a small shop on Nar Shaddaa for the past few months."

                Kara took the pad and inspected it, "What kind of shop?" Her question earned a shrug from the large man. She shook her head, "Well, it's better than nothing. Thank you." She smiled before standing up and retrieving her breastplate. "Get some sleep alright? I'll go talk to her." Pierce nodded before turning and leaving his commander to gear up.

                Once Kara strapped on her armor, she quickly headed to her ship, nodding politely at the people she passed. She turned into the hangar, making every attempt to avoid being noticed by Lana, sure that the overly anxious sith would insist someone should accompany her. Kara didn't plan on leaving without saying a word, but she knew this was something she needed to do alone.

                Once aboard her ship, it was simple enough to slip out of the base and hit hyperspace before opening a channel back to announce her departure. The holo took a moment to connect before a miniature Lana materialized above the device.

                "Commander?" Lana asked, her confusion apparent. "Where are you?"

                Kara gave the sith a small smile before answering. "I'm on my way to Nar Shaddaa to take care of… some personal business. Not to worry, I shouldn't be long."

                "Why would you be going to Nar Shaddaa?" Senya asked, the holoimage shifting to the matron knight.

                "Like I said. Some personal business. I'll try and pick something up for you while I'm there."

                "Please tell me you at least brought someone with you." Lana shook her head in annoyance as she spoke, already knowing the answer.

                Kara gave a half smile in response and shook her head. "I promise to be careful. I'll holo you when I head back." Then she clicked off the transmitter before they could try and talk her out of it. She'd have to remember to apologize to Theron when she got back as well, since she had forgotten to leave a note.

                Taking a mental note to find a way to make it up to the her lover, Kara kicked her legs up and closed her eyes, attempting to get a short nap in before she reached the planet.

                The nearby console began beeping after what felt like no more than a minute, and Kara's eyes snapped open. Stretching, she turned her attention to the alert and prepped the ship to exit hyperspace. As the ship decelerated and the planet came into view, the smuggler opened a channel and sent her docking request through, waited for her approval from the space port, and brought her ship in to land safely in the city’s docking bay.

                Kara strapped on her belt and blasters, and tucked her lightsaber in a hidden compartment on her right boot. Patting the side of her boot to make sure the hilt would be out of sight, she stood up and headed down the ramp and out of the port. Some members of the Alliance strode by as she headed for the taxi, recognizing their commander they snapped off a salute. Kara gave them a smile and signaled for them to be at ease as she passed before returning on her way.

                Her mind raced. She wasn't sure how she was going to break the news to Tivva. What would she say? Hey, I was your sister's boss, and now she's dead. Sorry?

                Kara shook her head, that just sounded bad. She had never had to tell someone that a family member had died. She quickly purchased a taxi ride to the promenade, climbed in the vehicle and leaned back as it carried her to her destination.

                Looking around, the city hadn't changed much since she had been there back when she was just a smuggler; no responsibilities, no war, just her ship and her friends and her hunt for Skavak. She laughed, back then she wouldn't have expected that she would miss the man, but the memories of him and Risha, and even Corso brought the reminder of how much she still had left to get back.

                When the taxi brought her to the promenade landing pad, Kara jumped out, shoving the memories to the back of her mind as she strode purposefully down the halls to the shop Pierce had said Tivva worked at. She still wasn't sure what she would say, but she had always been better at coming up with something on the fly anyway.

                Entering the shop, she looked around hoping to see Tivva, or any twi'lek that looked even similar to Vette, manning the floor. The store appeared to be empty aside from a young mirilan woman behind the counter. Kara grumbled a moment before turning her attention to the girl.

                "Sorry to bother you, miss." Kara gave the woman a winning smile, "But would you happen to know if someone named Tivva was working today?"

                The girl looked up at her, returning the smile before nodding, "She's in back on break, hang on." She gestured for Kara to stay put and ran to the door on the back wall. Sticking her head in, Kara could hear her shout, "Tivva! Someone's here to see you." Kara couldn't hear the response, but the Mirilan could, "I'm not sure… a blonde woman in black armor." She paused a moment, before replying again, "Alright, I'll let her know."

                The Mirilan returned to the counter, giving Kara a practiced smile that made the smuggler uneasy, "She'll be right up." Kara nodded before leaving the counter to browse, hoping to find a gift for Theron while she was here.

                In the time it had taken for Tivva to come up from the back room, Kara had purchased a few items for Theron, as well as something for Arcann. The twi'lek turned her attention to Kara as soon as her boots hit the sales floor.

                "Can I help you?" Tivva asked, eying Kara in suspicion.

                The smuggler gave her a sad smile, "I'm Commander Kara Hawke, of the Alliance." She bowed slightly to the twi'lek. Tivva's eyes widened for a split second, but otherwise remained silent. Kara waited a moment before continuing, choosing her words carefully. "I've come to give you news on your sister, Vette."

                "Ce'na?" Tivva clasped her hands together, "Where is she? Is she alright?"

                Kara looked away, not sure how to continue. She never had to deliver bad news to anyone before, how was she going to do this. She now regretted not bringing someone with her, she was sure Senya would've been good at this sort of thing.

                Before she could continue, the bell by the door rang as a customer entered. Tivva turned her attention to the newcomer, and waved them over, "Trey, perfect timing." She smiled at the man as he came to stand by the woman, "This is the commander of the Alliance. She said she knows Vette." She gestured to Kara, "Right?"

                Kara looked up at the man, nodding slowly. He was taller than her, with dirty blonde hair and tan skin and hazel eyes. He also sported a deep red tattoo across his forehead, clearly marking him as Sith. He cocked his head to the side, his expression guarded, "You know my wife?"

                Wife? Kara's heart sank, she knew she should've recognized the name. "Y-Yes. We fought together against Zakuul." She paused. She had not been even slightly prepared for this. "Vette was a good friend of mine during the time she was part of the Alliance."

                " _Was_?" Trey asked, emphasizing the word. He already radiated aggression and it took everything Kara had not to turn and bail before she got herself killed. She was _really_ regretting not bringing someone with her.

                "Yes… I." She swallowed hard. "I'm sorry." She couldn't look him in the eye, not that she needed to. This was Trey -- Trey Hawke, Nora's missing twin. And this was the first time she got to meet him, and it was to tell him his wife was dead. "Vaylin managed to capture her during the final battle, and..." She shook her head; she couldn't even finish the sentence.

                "And?" He asked, his voice deathly calm. "And what?"

                Kara shook her head, "I'm so sorry."

                As soon as sorry had left her mouth, she should've bowed out, should've listened to the voice in her head that was screaming at her to leave while she had the chance. But her pride and her shame kept her rooted there, looking at the floor as she felt the rage build in the man before her.

                "You're 'sorry'?" He spoke through gritted teeth, like he was struggling to keep himself calm. Kara was sure he was. She looked up at him, hoping he could see how sincerely upset she was about Vette's death, but when she looked at him all she could see was barely reigned rage. "You _let_ her die, and all you have to say is I'm sorry?"

                "There wasn't anything I could do. I wasn't able to save her." Kara struggled to keep eye contact with him. She was scared, more scared than she could ever recall being in her life. "I'm sorry." She bowed, dropping to her knees, hoping that would help somehow, "If there is anything I can do to help."

                The sound of a lightsaber igniting caused her eyes to snap open a split second before she felt the pain of the blade as it burned into her left shoulder. Pulling the blade out in an arc that sliced the latch from the side of Kara's breastplate, Trey brought his boot to the exit wound, kicking hard and causing the smuggler to flip onto her back, grunting in pain. The sound of a startled scream from both the Mirilan and Tivva was drowned out by the sound of the lightsaber buzz as Trey swung it around in a flourish.

                "You can help." He flipped the blade again as he stepped around to stand above the wounded commander, his feet on either side of her waist. His eyes flicked to the wound that he had caused on her shoulder, it was deep, but it wasn't life threatening and she wouldn't lose the limb. He grinned, "Yeah. You can help alright." He repeated.

                He brought the blade down, aiming to make the current wound worse, but Kara reacted on instinct, swinging her legs out and twisting to roll to the side, the blade glanced off the barely attached shoulderpad and nicked her arm before burying into the bloodied floor where she had been. Trey snarled as he drew back the blade.

                Kara was already on the move. Using her fear to drive her, she scooted out from under him, rolled onto her knees, and drew her gun. Her left arm was already feeling numb, either from the adrenaline or from the wound, she didn't know, but she still had to make use of the limb. Her hand closed around the blaster on her hip, the feeling foreign, and shakily aimed it along with its twin at the Sith before her. "I'm sorry, Trey, I don't know how I can make it up to you, but I'm sincerely sorry."

                Trey growled in reply, lunging to swing his blade at her. Kara dodged to the side, her moves slower than she would've preferred, but she managed to avoid the blazing saber. Or at least she thought she had. As soon as she had turned to bring her blasters up to fire at him, he suddenly shifted his stance and she was hit in the side with a second lightsaber.

                She fell to the ground, rolling away and back into a crouch and dropping her cover screen as she touched her wound carefully. It had hit her breastplate, thankfully, but she wasn't sure how many blows like that the durasteel could take. She looked up at him as he stalked forwards, flipping both blades in his hands, his body practically ablaze. A marauder just like his sister, she should've expected that.

                He advanced on her, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to win. This wasn't anything like before, even against Vaylin. Kara doubted there was anything even going through Trey's mind aside from pure bloodlust and grief. He didn't even take to using the lightsaber stance or forms that are taught to Jedi and Sith alike, he merely swung his blades in an unpredictable manner that made it difficult for the wounded smuggler to dodge, much less fight back.

                Suddenly he lunged. Kara brought up her wounded arm, taking the brunt of the attack on her gauntlets and let it deflect off, catching her upper arm once more. She knew a few more of those and that arm would be useless. He brought the hilt around, slamming the cold metal into Kara's wrist and knocking the blaster from her right hand. Abandoning the dropped weapon, she retreated, pressing her back against the shop's front wall. She glanced at the door, trying to come up with a way to escape and make it back to her ship in one piece. It was a slim chance, but if she could get out the door she knew she'd be able to make it to safety, as long as her luck held.

                Not giving the wounded woman a chance, Trey swung the blade back around, looking to either sever her wounded arm or to damage the other. Kara pressed a button on her glove and popped open the hidden compartment in her right boot, retrieving the lightsaber she had stashed there. Igniting the blade she swung it up and blocked Trey’s attack. She breathed heavily, exhaustion taking over. She had no chance at winning this, and survival was starting to be questionable with the amount of wounds that littered her body.

                Trey lunged once more, swinging his blade at her wounded side, Kara reacted quickly, bringing her own blade to block the attack and twist out of his reach. He reacted just as quickly, bringing the other blade around while she had her side to him. Turning she brought her right leg up, attempting to kick the blade from his hand, or to knock him off balance so she could escape. She succeeded at surprising him at the very least, but the surprise was short lived as he spun around and brought both blades around and sliced deep into her leg.

                Crying out, the smuggler crumpled to the floor, and clutched at the wound with her injured arm as she held up her own blade in a weak defense. The slash had penetrated to the bone, possibly even deeper. She clenched her teeth at the searing pain, and glared up at him, but the surprised look on his face wasn't what she had expected to find.

                Trey’s expression looked like someone had just told him he had killed his own family, and given the situation, it wasn't far off. Even though the pain stung bitterly, and her leg seemed to be barely attached, Kara took the opportunity to lunge out the door.. Sprinting as fast as her wounds would let her, she made her way through the startled crowds toward the nearby landing platform. She came across an unattended swoop bike idling as its owner argued with a nearby Nikto. Thanking the force, Kara hopped on grunting with pain, then kicked off, speeding away as the owner realized what just happened.

                Arriving at the space port, Kara abandoned the swoop, hoping the owner could get to it before someone else stole it, then limped her way to her ship. The ramp opened as she approached, and she rushed up making her way to the cockpit. She dropped her lightsaber in the spare chair, and cursed as she realized she left her blasters behind. She retrieved an emergency first aid kit that she kept stored under her chair. Punching in the coordinates for Odessen, she sat back and quickly opened the kit, pulling out some kolto and bandages.

                As the ship lifted off and hit hyperspace, she shoved the needle of the pack into her leg, attempting to save to damaged limb, or at least to lessen the pain before she passed out. The feeling had been dancing around in the back of her head, threatening to overwhelm her during the fight, but the adrenaline had kept it down. Now that she wasn't fighting for her life, she could feel the pain taking control, and her consciousness slipping.

                Her last fleeting thoughts before losing the battle to stay awake: reckless, loss, anger and confusion. She hoped Theron wouldn't be upset with her.  


	2. Chapter 2

                When Kara had left, Lana was practically fuming. It wasn't like the commander wasn't allowed to leave, but the woman had a tendency to get herself into trouble if she was alone. Lana shook her head, calming herself and reminding herself that the war was over, and Kara had every right to go where she pleased. And at least she had said something, even if she didn't explain why.

                Theron had entered the room while Lana was grumbling, and he shot her a questioning look, "Everything alright there Lana?" He asked, raising an eyebrow as he spoke.

                "Fine, Theron," She grumbled, "The Commander just left a short while ago for Nar Shaddaa, claiming she'll be back soon." She shook her head.

                "Did she give a reason before she left?" Theron picked up a datapad and began flipping through the information.

                "After she had hit hyperspace she holo'd and said it was 'personal' and that we shouldn't worry." Lana took the datapad from him, "Aren't you concerned?"

                "Why should I be?" He shrugged, glancing over at Senya as she went over some troop movements with Aric, "Maybe she learned something about Nora and went to check it out. Or her father asked her to do something for him?" He looked back at the Sith and shrugged, "She'll be fine." He gave the blonde a smile before he took the datapad back and went to join Senya and Aric.

Lana shook her head, but turned her attention back to her work. She had a bad feeling but there was nothing she could do about it now.

                A few hours later a sensor went off, alerting the arrival of a ship in the Odessen system. Teeseven plugged himself into the console before beeping excitedly and rushing off to the hangar. Lana looked up from her work as the droid sped off, "The commander's back?" she asked no one in particular before following after the droid.

                Heading to the bridge that connected the base to Kara's landing pad, Lana discovered that Theron had arrived before her. He glanced back at her, giving her a look that just screamed 'I told you so' before returning his attention to the descending ship. Arcann joined, along with Senya, and the group watch as the ship carefully landed in its designated spot.

                "Strange." Theron said as the ship depressurized and unlocked, "She never uses autopilot to land." Lana looked at him, a question forming, but Arcann started toward the ship before she could get a word out.

                "Something's wrong." Was all he said as he pushed past the group and practically sprinted to the descending ramp, Theron hot on his heels.

                The pair raced up the ramp and into the cockpit, finding the commander passed out in her seat, blood everywhere and a first aid kit in her lap. Her breastplate was half off, and half destroyed,  the lone lightsaber lying in the neighboring chair and her blasters were not found. Lana was right to worry, she has sensed something was wrong.

                "Arcann, go get help, I'll see what I can do to stop the bleeding." Theron had already set to work, removing the remains of her breastplate with practiced speed, and shot a look to the scarred man at his side. "Hurry!"

                Arcann nodded and bolted back out of the ship, hearing Theron muttering 'what did you get yourself into...' as he left. He exited the ship, concern clear on his face, shoving his way past his mother and Lana as he rushed back into the base.

                The two women watched him disappear into the building before they turned and entered the ship, both ready for anything. Senya noticed the trail of blood leading to the cockpit. By the time the women had entered Theron had managed to get her armor off and was tending the wound on her leg. Concern and fear radiated off of him in waves,  Lana could tell that she was severely wounded.

                "These are lightsaber wounds. Who would do such a thing?" Senya asked, taking in the extent of the injuries.

                Theron shook his head, but kept his attention focused on her injured leg. Heavy footsteps alerted them to the med unit having arrived, and the trio gave them space to carefully get their commander out of her ship quickly and safely.

                The med unit rushed her out, keeping care so they wouldn't jostle her. The trio followed soon after, watching them rush their friend off and into the base. Arcann was standing at the base of the ramp, and he looked up at them, his attention focused on Theron.

                "Go." He nodded towards the base, "You should be there with her."

                Theron shook his head. "I'd just be in the way right now." He took a slow breath, "She's in bad shape and they don't need me pestering them while they work." He turned and went back into the ship, Arcann following him in, "I'll clean up the ship, she'd have a fit if she could see how much of a mess she made." He gave a shaky laugh as he retrieved a box from a side room, "Besides it'll keep me from dismantling the base while I wait."

                "I'll help." Arcann offered.

                Theron waved him off, shaking his head. "It's fine. Go and keep an eye on her, keep me posted on how she's doing."

                Arcann narrowed his eyes in annoyance before taking a bottle from the box. "I'll help." he repeated, gripping the other man's shoulder.

                Admitting defeat, Theron nodded solemnly, "Fine." He then turned his attention to Lana.

                "We'll let you know when she's out of surgery." Lana said, giving her friend a sad smile.

                Theron returned it, "Thanks." He said quietly.

                He stood for a moment then slammed his hands against the wall of the ship overwhelmed with frustration and uncertainty. Arcann watched him shake his head then returned to a calm state turning to hand him a towel. The two started working on cleaning up the ship while the two women returned to the base to stay with the commander during recovery.


	3. Chapter 3

                The last thing Kara had felt before falling unconscious was fear, fear of worrying Theron again, and fear of dying. She knew that there would be permanent damage, and she thanked the stars that her breastplate had held together during that onslaught.

                But now, the fight was over, she had bled out badly, and she was sure she'd die before landing in Odessen. She had lost, and yet she felt so peaceful, like she was floating. Everything was numb and she felt safe. Almost too safe, the warning bells were going off in her mind. She wasn't dead, but she didn't know where she was and she couldn't move, couldn't even open her eyes.

                There were faint voices too, nothing that she could make out in her haze, but they were there, and she clung to them, wanting herself to wake up, pulling herself from the void. It was a struggle, everything was telling her to sleep, to rest, but she held onto that one bit of fear -- that bell that rang in the back of her mind, and pulled herself through to a waking state.

                Her eyes snapped open, suddenly taking in the familiar ceiling. The voices became more clear, distinct and recognizable. She still couldn't move, but she was awake, and alive.

                "Her arm may need augmentations for it to be healed completely, but her leg will likely need to be replaced."

                Arm... The left was cut up badly in the fight, but she could feel it, it still worked. She tried flexing her hand slowly, trying not to alert anyone to her being awake. The limb responded, but it was sluggish, whether that was from the pain meds or from damage she couldn't tell. Her leg... She couldn't feel at all. Again it could've been from the meds, but she highly doubted it. She closed her eyes, it had held up to get her to her ship and get her home, and it's better to have lost her leg than her life.

                "How long until she wakes up?" The voice was low and tired. Arcann was there, she couldn't help but smile that he'd be there to check on her.

                "Should be soon. If Theron hadn't tended to her as quickly as he did, she would’ve  been out much longer, but..." The humor was evident in the voice even if the topic wasn't happy. It was Dr Lokin speaking then. She was glad the doctor had been there to help. And Theron had been the one to find her? That thought hit hard. She felt terrible, she didn't tell him that she was leaving, and then he finds her a bloody mess. The thought made her groan in annoyance at her stupidity.

                The sound caught the attention of Lokin, who turned from the people he was talking to and went to Kara's side. "Well, look who's awake. How are you feeling Commander?"

                "Like I got thrown in an engine." She grumbled out. Her throat was sore, and she was starting to feel the pain med wear off. Lokin gave her a sad smile, nodded, and turned to check some monitors that were beside her bed. Her right hand moved slightly, and she felt a warm hand grip hers. Turning she saw Theron sitting by her side.

                "Hey." He gave her a worried smile.

                "Hey." She returned.

                "How're you feeling?" He gripped her hand gently as he spoke, concern plain in his voice.

                She laughed, wincing slightly, "Well, better now."

                "I'll leave you three alone while I go check on some supplies." He patted the canopy on the bed. "Don't push yourself." Then he turned and left.

                "Three?" Kara asked.

                "I can leave if you don't want me here." Kara glanced at Arcann as he approached the bed, remembering that he had been in the room too.

                "It's alright." She sighed, wincing as her shoulder shifted. "How mad is she?"

                "Lana? Practically livid." Theron shook his head, "I think she's just glad you made it back alive."

                Kara nodded slowly.

                "What happened?" Arcann asked, taking a seat. "You left without a word, and then...." He gestured to her vaguely, and then reached down to take her free hand, inspecting it carefully and earning a curious look from Theron.

                "Vette's sister." Kara paused, wincing as Arcann ran his hand against a sore spot. He stopped, unsure if he'd hurt her. "Pierce had found her, and I wanted to tell her what had happened."

                Theron nodded, understanding why she'd want to go alone. "And she did this?" He questioned. He had heard Vette speak of her sister before, but she didn't make her sound like much of a fighter.

                Kara shook her head. "No. It wasn't her. Trey was there, and he didn't take to the news too well."

                "Who's Trey?" Arcann asked.

                "My brother." Kara glanced at him, noting the regret that flashed across his face before it was replaced by concern. "We're not blood, but he's Nora's twin, and she's my sister, so..." She trailed off.

                "Trey was Vette's husband, he was missing until recently. So this was a surprise." Theron said, finishing her explanation.

                Arcann nodded his understanding. "And he did all this?"

                "He's Sith." She shrugged, wincing again, "He was really upset and lost control, but he came to his senses at the end, I think. When I escaped." She gripped Arcann's hand before he could pull it back, "I'll be fine."

                "Lokin said you're leg will probably need to be removed." Theron said, reaching over to brush her hair from her face. "But otherwise you'll make a full recovery."

                "I heard." She paused, "Thank you -- both of you. I heard you found me."

                "Don't worry about it, you need someone to look out for you when you get in over your head." Theron squeezed her hand, "We cleaned the ship too, so don't worry about it."

                Kara's eyes widened. "Cleaned it? Really?" Theron nodded, "How much of it? That would take.. Wait, how long was I out?"

                Theron laughed, "Not all of it, just the entry and cockpit. So... what, a day?" Arcann nodded in confirmation. "Don't worry. And I put your armor and lightsaber in our room so you can see to that when you're back on your feet."

                "Thank you." She smiled at him. "My bag, was it still on my belt?"

                "The black one? Yeah, it was."

                "I had picked up something for you, and Arcann, hopefully they didn't break in the fight."

                Theron grinned, "I'll check it out and go get some sleep. So get some rest." He stood up and kissed her lightly on the lips and then on the forehead before releasing her hand.

                Arcann nodded, standing as well, giving her hand a careful squeeze before releasing it, "Sleep well." He turned and followed after Theron, the pair paused letting Lokin and the nearby nurses know what they had observed.

                Kara watched them talk for a time before she slowly drifted off to sleep once more.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the delay, but here's the next chapter! There are some more of my toons that get mentioned in here; Anya, who is Kara's mother and a Sith warrior, and Mikael, who is Nora's husband and a republic trooper. As well as a comment on Kara's background!  
> And as always, I'll get arcann's personality right some day.... 
> 
> Enjoy!

                When Kara awoke some time later, the first thing she noted was a feeling of loss. She shifted, stretching her stiff limbs as much as she could before she felt any pain. Sitting up, she glanced around the room, finding it to be empty aside from a medical droid quietly bustling about, taking inventory while it was slow. The droid didn't seem to notice of her moving around.

                After pushing herself up to a sitting position, Kara pushed the blankets down off her legs, taking in the extent of her injuries as she did so. The wound on her shoulder was obviously bad, and the arm was sore, but it had been tended well and, after stretching it carefully, she was sure she'd have little lasting damage to the limb.

                Moving down, she brushed her hand gently across the bandages on her arm, and took in the extent of the bruises that had formed along the limb. Glancing at her other arm she found a good amount there as well. Sighing in relief at the generally small amount of wounds she had, she turned her attention to her legs. Pulling the blankets the rest of the way off, she took in the source of the feeling that she had gotten when she had awoken. While her left leg was fine, aside from some minor cuts and bruises, but her right was heavily marred and had been amputated just above the knee and in its place there was a prosthetic.

                Kara sighed heavily at the sight, realizing just how badly the fight had gone. Glancing around and finding the droid had left the room, she turned and let her legs dangle off the bed. Flexing her legs she felt the mechanical one respond sluggishly at first, watching it slowly move as if it was still her organic one. She shook her head, focusing on the limb, and bent her legs, swinging them back and then forward again, testing the range of motion and the level of pain she felt from where the metal attached to the rest of the limb. It moved steadily enough, albeit not as smoothly as she would've liked, Kara pushed herself from the bed, attempting to stand.

                As soon as her feet hit the floor, the prosthetic gave out under her, causing her to pitch to the side. Her arm flailed out, trying to catch herself before she hit the floor, but her descent was suddenly stopped before she had even realized that she missed grabbing onto the bed. She was then lifted gently off her feet and placed back onto the bed. A low chuckle caused her to turn towards the door, surprise still apparent on her face.

                "You shouldn't be on your feet yet." Arcann said and he strode into the room, lowering his arm as he entered. Walking around to the other side of the bed, he gave her a once over. "The doctor said that you're healing well, and that there shouldn't be any lasting scars aside from..." He trailed off as his gaze drifted to her leg. He took a heavy breath before returning his attention to her face, though his focus did linger on the scar on her ribs a moment first.

                Kara nodded, "I'm just happy I made it out alive, honestly." She gave him a small smile, noting that he was turning something in his hand as he pulled up a chair and sat in front of her.

                He brought it up to show her, "Thank you for this, by the way." showing her the gift she had bought for him, a glass orb depicting a small galaxy. He turned it in his hand, letting the faux stars in the orb catch the dim lighting of the med bay. The orb sported a small crack across the one side, but seemed to be otherwise undamaged. "It's beautiful." he said quietly. Glancing up at him she caught a hint of a smile as he turned it, the star globe had stood out to her back at the shop, and she couldn't help but think that it suited him. And watching him now, she was glad she had bought it.

                They sat in a comfortable silence for a short time, before Kara began shifting anxiously, feeling the need to get up and move around. Her movement brought Arcann's attention back to her.

                "Do you want to walk around?" He asked. When she nodded he stood up and grabbed a robe for her to put on before helping her to her feet and bracing her so she wouldn't fall over again. "Take it easy, they had just finished the fitting a few hours ago."

                Kara glanced at him as he helped her walk through the med bay, "How long was I out this time?"

                "Two days. Theron had been here pretty much the whole time."

                Kara sighed, "I didn't mean to worry him so much. Is he alright?"

                Arcann nodded, "I managed to convince him to get some sleep, promised I'd stay with you in the mean time. He should be asleep in your room." He paused, pressing a button of the wall to open the door as the pair made their way out of the room. "But..."

                "He's probably working." Kara finished, laughing quietly. "He's very dedicated to his job."

                "And to you as well." He glanced at the woman leaning on him as they walked slowly down the hall. She smiled at that. "It took a lot to get him to leave your side so the doctors could perform the surgery on your leg."

                "I hope he didn't cause too much trouble."

                "Enough." He chuckled, "But that soldier friend of yours kept him out of the way."

                Kara nodded, "Did you tell Pierce what had happened? He was friends with Trey."

                Arcann shook his head, "Not yet, and he didn't push for details from us. He probably will ask you once everyone else knows you're back on your feet."

                "Oh yes, because I'm doing such a great job of walking on my own at the moment." She laughed sadly.

                "You'll get used to it, trust me."

                There was a throbbing pain where her leg connected to the prosthetic, but Kara ignored it as much as she could, keeping most of her weight on her other leg and Arcann's shoulder. The metal limb was slow and felt entirely unnatural and she doubted she'd ever get completely used to the feeling, but she did try her best to make do with what she had, because at least she had survived the encounter. She sighed in thought as she ran through the fight again in her head, taking note to get a new pair of blasters when she got the chance.

                The silence dragged on while the pair made their way through the base, Arcann leaving his commander to her thoughts. He still remembered when he lost his arm, remembered the pain and the shock of having the warm limb be replaced with something cold and metal. But he hadn't had the chance to gradually adjust to the new limb, he had been in a battle with little time to do more than fight immediately after the injury. But he had Thexan there by his side when it happened, and he vowed to do the same for Kara, to be the rock for her as she took the time to adjust to her new limb, something that he hadn't had the luxury of.

                After making their way past what Kara was pretty sure was the mess hall, she glanced up at him, "Where are we going?"

                "I figured you'd want some fresh air." He answered simply, taking her around another turn and walked out onto the balcony overlooking the Gravestone. "We can go back if you want."

                "No, I..." She took a deep breath, looking up at the night sky, "I needed this, thank you." As they approached the railing she pushed off from his shoulder and took a few careful steps before leaning on the cold metal.

                "Guess I'm not the only one who needed a breather." A voice from her left alerted her to Theron exiting the lift from the war room. "It's good to see you up and on your feet."

                "Theron." Kara smiled at him, "Shouldn't you be getting some rest?"

                He waved her off, "I'll sleep when you're released from the med bay." He smiled at her, though he was obviously still very concerned, "Speaking of, I don't think you're supposed to be out of bed yet." He looked at Arcann, raising an eyebrow in question.

                "She was getting restless, so I walked her out here. You would've done the same." Arcann crossed his arms across his chest, silently daring the spy to claim otherwise.

                Theron put his hands up in defeat, earning a small laugh from Kara, "You got me. But all the same, we should get you back before Lokin realizes you've escaped."

                Kara nodded in agreement, "I don't think I should be on my feet too long anyway." She reached over and leaned on Arcann once more. "Let's go back, I'm sure he'll release me soon enough."

                "Especially if he doesn't notice that you left in the first place." Theron added, approaching the pair to see if there was any way he could help. Seeing that they had it all under control he took to standing on her side opposite of Arcann as they headed inside.

                "And why would you think I wouldn't notice?" Doctor Lokin spoke up as the trio rounded the corner. His normally jovial expression was replaced with a mask of tired annoyance.

                "Oh." Kara smiled at him innocently, "I'm sorry… I insisted on leaving, Lokin."

                "I'm aware, the med droid came and got me as soon as you started moving around." He gestured for them to continue, and kept himself a step ahead of them, "I also have cameras and saw you two leave."

                "You hid cameras in the med bay?" Theron asked.

                "Does that honestly surprise you? I _was_ part of Imperial Intelligence." The doctor smiled at them proudly.

                "Point taken."

                They walked back to the med bay in silence. It wasn't until they reached the door that Kara spoke up again.

                "Has there been any word on Trey since I got back?"

                Arcann glanced at her, concern apparent on his face, as Theron shook his head.

                "Nothing yet," He said, "Lana has some contacts keeping an eye out, but since you..." He grimaced, "Nothing, no."

                Kara nodded, "I wish we could've gotten a chance to talk. Maybe he would know where Nora is, he cares so much about her, I figured he'd be the best shot at finding her."

                "What about her husband?" Theron asked. "He's been in contact with Jorgan recently, could ask him."

                "He has?" Kara asked. With Arcann's assistance she sat down on the bed, letting Lokin inspect her injuries while they spoke. "I thought Mikael's been too busy with the war." She flinched when the doctor rubbed a bit of kolto on her leg.

                Theron shrugged, "He's still the commander of Havoc, if only in title at this point." He glanced over his shoulder as Lana walked into the room, datapad in hand. "Maybe we'll be lucky and she'll have been with him the whole time."

                "As if we'd be that lucky." Kara sighed, "I doubt the Republic would let a Sith fight alongside them, especially the 'Emperor's Wrath'."

                "I see you're awake Commander." Lana greeted her, giving the smuggler a stern look as she strode up to the bed, "I believe it's safe to assume that you're speaking of Lord Nora again." She seated herself in one of the chairs next to the bed as Kara laid back down, letting Lokin finish his examinations of her injuries. "I have my agents out looking for her, so don't worry and focus on your recovery."

                "She's been missing for six years, I'd prefer to find her while we have even the smallest clue, rather than wait." Kara grit out as Lokin redressed her wounds.

                Lana nodded in understanding, "I know how important she is to you Commander, but trust me with this and focus on your own health before you worry about others." She sighed when Kara glared at her, "Very well, I was planning on waiting for confirmation before I sent the report your way, but one of my contacts did alert me to someone who fits the description of Nora."

                "Which contact?" Theron asked, leaning on the wall.

                Arcann had also taken a seat during their conversation, keeping silent but paying attention to the many details about the commander that he had never known about. Kara smiled at him gratefully as he took her hand in his before returning their attention to the conversation.

                "A friend amongst the Sith, Anya Reyes." Lana stated, handing the datapad to Theron as she spoke. "She claims to have seen her on Alderaan recently, but hasn't given much detail as of yet."

                At the mention of the name Kara gripped Arcann's hand tightly. He looked at her, noting the annoyance on her face, and felt her usual confidence waver slightly. "Who's Anya?" Arcann asked.

                The advisors looked over at him, Lana answering his question, "A powerful Sith. She usually keeps to herself, and never took a title, but she's well known for her... questionable... methods to gain power."

                "She also happens to be my mother." Kara finished, pulling the blankets up with her free hand as Lokin walked away from the bed, excusing himself from the conversation before he was pulled in as more than just an observer. "Koro and I were meant to 'inherit' her power but we didn't work out."

                Lana looked away, as Arcann spoke up once more, "What didn't work out?"

                Kara gave him a sad smile, "Koro wasn't force sensitive and was left with his uncle. And I had 'too much of my father in me' and was left with my dad as a toddler. So she’s…. not exactly the most loving mother in the galaxy."

                Theron laughed quietly at the comment, but said nothing.

                "I think Senya's been more of a mother to me than Anya ever has, and we've known each other for only a little over a year." Kara continued. "So let's just leave it as it's complicated."

                Arcann nodded, "You were raised by your father then?"

                "Yeah, for a while." Kara laughed, "He trained me as his Padawan until I ran away and became a smuggler." She grinned, "I have yet to regret that choice. I probably wouldn't've met any of you if I had stayed meditating in the temple."

                "Yeah, because Jedi training is sooooo terrible." Blue said as he walked in, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And here I heard you only managed to survive your fight because of that training."

                Kara rolled her eyes at her father before shaking her head. "I'll give you that much, it did help me in a pinch. Maybe it was where I was trained that made me want to travel far away and ‘see the stars'." She said mockingly.

                "Wait, I thought you liked Rishi!" Blue laughed. "Anyway, how are you feeling? Any better?"

                "A bit better now. Don't think I'll get used to this though." She wiggled her right leg as she spoke.

                "Patience. Give it some time and don't push yourself. You'll be back in fighting form before you know it."

                "I sure hope so. Couldn't get much of anywhere without leaning on Arcann, and as lovely as that was, I don't was to be a burden." Kara sighed.

                "Trust me, we've relied on you for a long time, the least we can do is be there for you." Theron smiled, pushing off from the wall to stand next to her, Lana joining him as well. He placed a hand on her arm comfortingly.

                "I appreciate it, really." She said, giving them a small smile, "But I'd also appreciate it if you didn't all surround me like I'm on my deathbed."

                Laughing, Lana and Blue backed up a step, giving their commander some space.

                "I'll head back to the war room, and I'll be sure to let you know if I hear any more on your family, Commander. Rest up." Lana said as she headed to the door.

                "I'll go too. Just wanted to check on my baby before I hit the books." Blue grinned at his daughter as she shook her head at his comment. "Stay in bed, I'll be back later." He waved as he left the room, jogging to catch up to Lana, the pair discussing the plans for today’s research as they left.

                "You should go get some sleep Theron, you look exhausted." Kara spoke up after the Jedi and Sith had left.

                "I will, though I think I'd rather use one of the beds in here, just in case." He smiled at her as he scouted out the free beds in the room, even taking a moment to debate on pushing a few chairs together and just using that as a bed.

                "Worried I might try and escape again?"

                "Guilty." He had found one of the beds in the corner and, with Arcann's help, had rolled it over so it was near enough the Kara's that he could keep an eye on her without being in the way. "You do have a habit of trying to do too much while injured."

                "Like you can talk." Kara scoffed at him. "What about you Arcann? Are you going to head down?"

                "I'd like to stay for a while, if that's alright with you." He returned to his chair next to her bed.

                "Of course." She smiled at him, taking his hand once more, the warmth comforting.

                "Oh get a room." Theron laughed as he dropped some blankets and a pillow on his bed. He went to Kara's side giving her a soft kiss before wrapping himself up in his procured blankets and settling down in his bed, reviewing his datapad.

                Kara shook her head, laughing quietly, "Stop working and get some rest, you're making me tired just looking at you." Theron gave her a half nod as he scrolled through his messages, scooting lower in the bed till he was laying fully on his back. Shaking her head once more, Kara turned her attention back to Arcann, she tugged his hand until he leaned near to her. Sitting up she place a kiss on his cheek, and gave him a smile. "Thank you again for everything."

                Unsure entirely how to react, he gave a nod and a small smile of his own as he settle back in his chair, noting a curious glance that Theron sent his way.

                By the time Lokin returned to start work for the day the trio had fallen asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been awhile but a new chapter is here! We're slowly progressing to something I swear.

                Kara sighed as she stretched, feeling her sore muscles pull before she released her arms and lowered them to her lap slowly. She swung her legs back and forth, flexing the limbs as she leaned over and grabbed her crutch. Pushing off the bed, she used the crutch to walk through her room, carefully making her way down the steps and headed out the door into the winding halls of the Alliance base. She nodded a greeting to HK-51 as she turned and made her way towards the war room

                One week. It took one week before Lokin had cleared her to walk without someone assisting her. Granted it was mostly her fault that it had taken so long. As much as she cared for Theron and Arcann the fact that either of the pair, and sometimes both of them, would practically hover around her treating her like she was made of glass, just annoyed her to no end. She was grateful that they cared about her, but she didn't want to be doted on, nor did she want to appear weak so soon into the creation of the Eternal Alliance. Tomorrow, she should be cleared to walk without the crutch.

                Entering the central room Kara found Lana and Koth speaking to a few people on the holo. Kara recognized Aric but the other three figures were people she didn't know. Two of them wore robes, and based on the voice, one of them was female, and sounded unfortunately familiar. Lana glanced over to her commander as Kara approached them, as quietly as she could manage.

                "Good morning commander. I was just reviewing some news from some of my contacts." She handed Kara her datapad, "Jorgan has located Major Mikael Hawke, but he hasn't met up with him just yet."

                Aric nodded. "The major has been on Alderaan for the past few weeks with a small team. I have yet to make contact, but I should have the specifics by end of day, sir."

                Kara nodded in thanks before turning her attention back to Lana.

                "Darth Imperious has been working to find some of your crew as well as offered her assistance in researching Zakuulan technology."

                The figure to Aric's right nodded, her long braid slipped from her shoulder from the motion. "Pleasure to meet you commander. You can call me Kurana." She gave a small smile, but otherwise looked unenthusiastic about the conversation. She was pretty, and through the holo Kara could tell she was a force to reckoned with, even with the slave brands that covered the right side of her face and her forehead. She pulled her braid back over her shoulder, idly playing with the metallic piece at the end as she turned her attention back to Lana.

                "One of my anonymous agents has alerted me to sightings of Trey." She gestured to the first of the two robed figures.

                "It's an honor, ma'am." He bowed slightly. He wore a heavy dark coat covered in a multitude of straps and wore a mask that reminded Kara much of Revan's. She tried to place the voice, but it was too distorted to recognize.

                "And lastly, Anya had some reports of both Nora as well as your uncle." Lana gestured to the last of the lineup.

                The figure dropped her loose hood, smiling down at Kara. "Look how big you've gotten dear. It's been so long since I saw you last.” She smiled, “It's good to see you again."

                Kara crossed her arms. "It hasn't been that long, Anya. And Kross wasn't missing, he's been in contact with his brother often enough."

                Anya tsked at the dismissive reply, but didn't speak further.

                Lana quietly thanked her luck that the woman didn't try and push her daughter right now, and continued with her report. "Outside of family matters, repairs are going well in both the empire and the republic. Koro sent a message asking if you were doing better and if it was safe enough on Odessen to bring Caleb to visit." She tapped the screen as she spoke before turning it so Kara could see. "He also sent a photo of him and your son making some, frankly, rude gestures at the supreme commander, with the note 'can't believe Cal thinks this guy is cool.'"

                Kara laughed at the image, shaking her head. "I'll let him know they can come out here, and tell him to stop teaching my son such terrible things."

                "Perhaps I should visit as well." Anya said, and instantly Kara's smile was gone. "I would love to meet my grandchild."

                "No." Kara stated.

                Theron and Arcann had entered the war room during the conversation, the spy carrying a large stack of datapads in his arms.

                "I'm sure he'd want to meet his grandmother, don't you agree?" Anya pressed.

                "I said, no." Kara glared up at the holo.

                "Don't be so uptight. I won't hurt him." She laughed lightly, "besides, of what use could I possibly have for a child of a Jedi and a smuggler anyway."

                "Enough." Lana cut in before the interaction could escalate. "Thank you all for your reports. I'll wait for your check-in, Major. Speak to you all later." She then cut the transmission before they had bid their farewells, and turned on Kara. "What was that commander?"

                "What was what?" Kara asked as she released her crutch, flexing her fingers carefully. She had a white knuckle grip on the crutch from the time that Anya had removed her hood, and now her hand was sore.

                "That. Commander, I know you are not on the best of terms with Anya, but she has been helping us. At least try and act like you appreciate her efforts." Lana put down the datapad and cast an annoyed look towards Theron as he noisily scattered his datapads on the terminal he frequented.

                "I do appreciate it,” Kara made her way over to pick up a datapad, “but I also don't trust her."  She started scrolling through the information, attempting to avoid continuing the conversation.

                "Well, you'll have to at least be cordial with her. She offered to help as soon as she learned that you were the commander." Lana crossed her arms over her chest, adamant about getting Kara to accept her mother's help.

                Kara sighed, "That makes it worse. She's only doing this because she thinks she'll get something out of it."

                "That's how Sith are, Kara." The use of her first name made Kara turn to look at her friend as she spoke, "Even I was like that when we first met, give her a chance."

                Kara huffed in annoyance, but didn't say anything, opting to glare at the datapad in her hand instead.

                "Lana's right, Commander." Arcann spoke up, "If you give her a chance, she might be an asset to the team."

                Kara looked at him, a wave of emotions crossing her face before she just shook her head and nodded. "Alright. I'll give her a second chance. But I don't want her alone with Cal. And I want to let Koro know as well." She narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the former emperor, "I'm doing this for you, so I hope you don't regret it." And then she turned and left, taking the elevator up to the balcony, datapad in hand.

                Lana just shook her head, and returned to work. Arcann glanced over at Theron who had been doing his best to keep from being dragged into the argument. "Theron, am I missing something?"

                Theron shook his head, "Don't worry about it, she's never been crazy about her mom and I can't blame her. You'll understand when you meet her."


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How about that, two chapters in one day! Bit of a backstory here for why Kara doesn't get along with anya...  
> Enjoy!!

                Kara huffed in annoyance. She couldn't believe him, taking Lana's side. She knew Arcann didn't know what the woman was like, but still, couldn't he have trusted her enough to take her word for it? She shook her head, and made her way out to the balcony, leaning on the railing and closing her eyes. She knew what Anya was like, had experienced it first hand, but nobody else knew her except Lana. And Lana thought that it was a good idea for her to come out to Odessen?

                Kara grumbled in annoyance, she knew her father would be happy to see the woman again, those two got along surprisingly well. But Kara could never agree with her mother. There was just something about the sith that always riled her up. True she had been left with her father soon after she was born, as had Koro with his uncle. But she had never given it too much of a thought until she had met the woman face to face.

                It had been around the time of the battle against Revan. Anya had been on Marr's ship, and was pitching in where she felt was necessary while they were on Yavin. When she saw Kara, she rushed over to introduce herself to one of the leaders of the coalition. Within minutes of the conversation, it was all the smuggler could do to get her to quiet down for a second. She seemed friendly, overly so, and Kara tried to return her enthusiasm at being 'reunited'. But after Darmas, she was still careful. And she had been grateful for that care.

                Anya was nice enough, and that was honestly how she was. But she also did so many things that struck Kara as wrong. She made offhand comments about her fighting style, he crew, her family, and Theron. She spoke in an arrogant, condescending tone. Still, part of her thought that she wasn't trying to be rude, wasn't trying to pick a fight. And yet…

                Kara shook her head, she didn't want to think badly of the sith -- her mother, and aside from what was said in conversation, she hadn't _done_ anything to Kara directly. Not back then. She had simply been running errands for Marr and Satele, trying to unlock the temple and get everyone to work together on the field so they could stop Revan before it was too late.

                Kara kept her sons in mind while she fought the revanites, tried to keep their safety on her focus, but even with Corso at her back, she got sloppy. Looking back on it now, it was her own fault that she was caught off-guard, she should've been more careful. Honestly, she couldn't've seen the black red lightsaber flying towards her, nor its twin immediately after. She would've never expected her own mother, who had spent the last few days practically fawning over her, to leap at her, sweeping lightsabers in a practiced motion at her.  Attempting to strike down her own child.

                Kara had managed to dodge both blades, rolling for cover as soon as she had heard the angry hiss of a lightsaber. But she had expected a revanite, not her own mother, grinning wildly as she swung at her viciously. An offhand swing brought the hilt of her lightsaber to Corso's jaw, sending the armored man to the ground, hard. Kara dodged as best she could, but the sith was faster and soon overwhelmed her, knocking her to the ground. Before Kara could push herself to her feet, Anya had pulled both arms back and locked them together, hauling the smuggler to her feet and shoving her off towards a small camp on the other side of the temple grounds. A few revanites had been gathered there, with a heavily armored man in the center of the tent.

                Anya had approached them, pulling Kara along and shoving her towards them. She had discussed her terms with the group, like Kara was some token to be traded, and the armored man finally approached. He had grabbed Kara by the chin, scoffing at the dirty coat she wore (a momento of simpler times) before making his way to Anya. He towered over the sith and glared down at her with annoyance, shaking his head ‘no deal’. Anya had smiled at him, and then promptly ran him through with her lightsaber.

                Nobody had seen her move her hands or draw the blade, but in a moment the leader of the group was down, dead before he hit the floor. And seconds after the rest of the group dropped dead as well. Then the cuffs were removed, and Kara was set free once more. She had looked up at her mother, the woman who she was supposed to be able to trust, and had asked her 'why'. And all the sith could do was shrug, saying the plan went wrong. Kara couldn't even remember what Anya had been trying to do, nor did she even care. She had been used, _again_ , and this time is was by her own blood.

                Kara was furious. She stormed off, not bothering to listen to anymore of what Anya had to say. She was bruised, and tired and pissed off. She went back to find Corso desperately searching for her, his face literally lighting up as soon as Kara called out to him, and they went back to their camp to tend to their wounds. Kara had been thankful that Corso hadn't pushed on what had happened, they had traveled together long enough that he knew when he shouldn't push her for information.

                And now, years later, that betrayal still burned. She had told Theron what had happened, as well as her brother. How could she trust someone who was willing to let her die. How could she trust the woman around her kids, or around her brother? She really couldn't. She couldn't let them get hurt by Anya. Even if there was no war currently, even if they were only repairing what had been damaged, she will not let something like that happen to anyone she cared about.

                Kara would let Anya come by, she'd be friendly, but she'd keep her at arm's length, and warn Koro about her arrival.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some of Kara's family arrives on Odessen, and somehow no fights break out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, but here's the next chapter!

                He felt like she was circling him like a predator circling its prey. Or at least that's what Arcann felt like as Anya sized him up within moments of entering the war room. Her bright green eyes, so much like Kara's, narrowed as she inspected him, smirking slightly as she strode up to him. She was shorter than him, very much so, but she had an air to her, that she wasn't to be messed with. That she was likely the strongest in the room.

                "So you're the former emperor that my daughter dethroned?" Anya's smirk turned into a full smile, her previous show of power fading away as she stood before him, a picture of innocence. She sighed before continuing, "I must say, I expected more, honestly. With how you managed to take control of so much in such a short time. And yet." She placed her hand on her cheek, shaking her head.

                Arcann bristled at the comment. He went to make a comment, to voice his annoyance at the woman, but a gentle touch on his back stayed his tongue. He turned to look at Kara as she gave him an apologetic look before turning her attention to her mother, keeping her hand in place.

                "Welcome to Odessen, Anya." She gave her an obviously forced smile, "It's been too long, hasn't it."

                "It has!" Anya smiled at her daughter, looking up at the blonde before striding forward and pulling the taller woman into a hug.

                Kara returned the hug carefully. She had promised Lana she would be polite, and wouldn't start anything with her mother, but from the near outburst from Arcann a moment earlier, she doubted she _would_ have to start anything at this rate. Anya pulled back first, Kara counting it as a minor victory, and beamed up at her daughter.

                "You'll have to give me the grand tour." Anya patted her daughter on the shoulder, "When your brother and son get here, I mean."

                "I would love to," Kara smiled down at the woman, "They should be here any minute. Theron already told me their shuttle was inbound before I walked in."

                "Theron's here?" Anya asked, joy clear in her eyes, "I'll have to get a drink with him, it's been ages since I saw him last. What of his mother? Is she here as well?"

                Kara shook her head, and started off toward the hangar, "No, Master Satele is on Coruscant I believe." Kara took a steady breath, everything was going fine. She could feel Arcann following behind her, his quiet presence keeping her calm. She laughed quietly at that, never did she imagine that he would be the one keeping her in check, but here she was. Although she had yet to have any reason to argue with her mother. _Yet_.

                Anya glanced at her, hearing her laugh, "Something funny?"

                Kara couldn't tell if she was annoyed or not, but Anya was good at hiding her emotions, something that still surprised her since the woman was a sith. "Just thinking." She smiled. "This will be your first time meeting your grandkids. I hope you get along."

                "I'm sure we will." Anya turned her attention to the hangar doors as the whooshed open, and the trio strode in.

                Careful. Kara reminded herself slightly. Keep a cool head, don't turn over protective. This is Arcann's first time meeting them too, let's make it nice for everyone.

                Theron stood watching as a shuttle came to land in the open area of the bay. He turned to look at Kara as she strode up to him, and gave her a comforting smile. "That should be them. You ready?"

                "Born ready, love." She returned his smile before heading over to the shuttle as it decompressed and the boarding ramp descended.

                As she approached three figures exited the craft. Kara immediately recognized her brother, his unruly black hair covering much of his face, and the cybernetic implants imbedded in his cheeks and above his left eye. He carried a child with a mop of blonde hair who was poking at a datapad, and had another at his side, his hair brown and set in a more professional way than the boys he walked next to. They were followed closely by a young girl, her hair such a light blonde it was nearly white.

                "Koro!" Kara called out as she strode up to the group, her arms spread in a welcoming gesture. "I'm so glad you could make it! I loved the picture you sent."

                Koro grinned at her, putting the boy he was carrying down before pulling Kara into a tight hug. "It's been a long time sis!" He picked her up, pulling a laugh from her, "Why is it I only hear from you when you almost get yourself killed? You worry me too much, what will I tell the kids, huh?" He put her down, releasing her from his grip.

                "I'm sorry, it wasn't a planned event, I promise." She grinned at him and then turned her attention the boys, "Caleb! Connor! You've gotten so big. Come here, I've missed you."

                The pair charged her as she knelt down, pulling them into a hug. "Mom!"

                She released them, patting them on the head, "Have you been good to your uncle?" The pair nodded ecstatically, "Good. Good." She smiled at them, "You're both so big now, I remember when you were about this big." She gestured the approximate height they had been when she had seen them last, right before meeting up with Marr. "I can't believe it, how old are you two now? Four?"

                They giggled at her, "I'm nine mom! Don't you remember? And Connor's seven." Caleb grinned, his dark hair falling out of place.

                Kara fixed the loose strands, "Nine already. huh? And here I thought you were still only eight." She teased.

                He huffed in half-hearted annoyance, "Only until next week!" Kara grinned at him, he looked so much like his father, so much like Skavak. The thought hurt a little, but she still grinned at him pulling him into another hug.

                "And you two have been getting along? No fights?"

                Both boys shook their heads. "Caleb's been trying to help the Jedi and Supreme with fixing things." Connor spoke up. "They tell him not to, but he does anyway."

                Kara smiled at him, ruffling his hair, "Do you help too?" Connor nodded. "Then good, as long as you don't get yourselves hurt, you should help out. It's a good thing to do."

                "See??" Caleb poked his brother with his elbow.

                "You just want Supreme to tell you you did a good job, that's all." Connor shot back.

                “That’s not true. I wanted to help too.” Caleb shot his little brother a glare at the comment.

                “Uh-Huh.”

                Kara laughed, “Enough you two. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to get a pat on the back when you do something good. Trust me. I’ve met some great people just because I wanted to be told that I did a good job.” She looked up towards Theron and winked at him earning a grin from the spy.

                “That’s true, I wouldn’t have sought you out if I hadn’t heard your name come up so often. And then where would we be now?” Theron gave a half-hearted shrug, grinning as he spoke.

                Caleb detached himself from his mother wandering over to where Arcann stood watching the family reunite. “Who are you?” He asked, looking up at the prince. Kara turned to watch her son, waiting to see the reaction from both Caleb and Arcann.

                Arcann looked towards his commander, a look of uncertainty crossing his face before he turned his attention to the child before him, kneeling down so he was eyelevel with the boy. “My name’s Arcann, I’m-“

                As soon as he said his name Caleb’s eyes widened and he backed up, quickly retreating to his mother’s side. “You’re the one who took mom from us.”

                Arcann got to his feet, “Yes.” He paused, looking away, “I did. One of many things I regret doing.” Anya watched the interaction with interest, her curiosity piqued.

                Theron strode over to the prince, throwing an arm over his shoulder companionably, startling the scarred man slightly, “He also is the reason we have the Alliance and stopped the eternal fleet, as much as I’d hate to admit it.”

                Kara gave Theron a grateful look before speaking up, “That’s right.” She stood and went over to Arcann’s other side, putting an arm around his shoulders in a similar manner, “If it weren’t for him, there likely wouldn’t be a Coruscant left for you to help out in.” She smiled at her boys. “He’s a good guy once you get to know him.” Arcann glanced at both gunslingers, clearly grateful they stood up for him, but also unsure if that would be enough to convince the boys.

                Caleb walked to stand in front of the trio, Connor at his side. He looked to his mother first, then Theron, before sighing and nodding and turning his attention to Koro instead.

                Theron leaned closer to Arcann, attempting to whisper to Kara without releasing his hold on the prince. “Do you think he accepted that explanation?”

                Kara leaned the same, the pair crowding Arcann more than they had prior, “He’ll come around, we all did.”

                “As much as I appreciate you two standing up for me, I’d prefer if you didn’t hang on me.” Arcann said, sighing in slight annoyance.

                Theron detached himself immediately, laughing out a sorry, before heading over to catch up with Koro.

                Kara moved away more slowly than the spy had, placing her hand on Arcann’s back for a moment, “He’ll come around, Arcann, I promise.” She smiled at him.

                “How long has it been since you’ve seen them last?” He asked, watching the boys talk to their uncle.

                “About six years give or take a few months. Connor wasn’t even two yet and Caleb was a little over three when the fleet first attacked Marr’s ship.” She paused, “I’m glad Koro was there for them while I was gone, I was so worried for them.”

                Arcann looked down, the hand against his back was warm, and while normally it would’ve been a welcome, comforting touch from her, instead the warmth burned. He was the reason she wasn’t there for her sons, he was the reason she didn’t get a chance to raise them herself.

                Her voice brought him back from his thoughts, “Their fathers can’t be there for them, but they had Koro and Theron. They’ll be alright.”

                “What happened to their father?” Arcann asked carefully, concerned that they may have died by his hand.

                “Caleb’s died before he was born.” She paused, “And before you ask, I’m the one who killed him. I didn’t want to, but he gave me no choice.” She sighed before continuing, “Connor’s was in prison last I heard.” She didn’t explain further, leaving it at that. “I’m glad Koro was there for them when I couldn’t be.”

                Arcann watched her carefully, her regret obvious on her face, but she still had a look of pride as she watched her sons. “They’re already so big, and so many things kept me from them before, I won’t let anything else interfere now.” She grinned at him. “So of course, you’re going to have to get along with them.”

                “Of course.” He nodded, giving her a small reassuring smile.

                Kara patted him gently on the back, and then leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, “Thank you.” She said before she pulled away, giving him another smile and turned away.

                Arcann reached out, grabbing her wrist and pulled her into a tight hug. “I won’t let something like that happen again. I promise.”

                She froze unsure how to react at first, but as he spoke she returned the hug. “I know.” She said quietly.

                He held her close for a moment before letting her go. She smiled at him before she turned and went to join the conversation with her brother and sons. He watched her go, not cutting himself off from the gathering of people, but not forcing himself into their conversation either. He knew he needed to give her family time to accept him.

                Anya strode over to stand beside him, a grin on her face. “Interesting.”

                Speaking of family, Arcann thought as he looked down at the sith, “What’s interesting?” He asked.

                “Oh nothing.” She smiled at him innocently. “Just thought that it was interesting.” She strode past him, purposefully bumping his arm as she passed, and went and joined her son and daughter.

                Arcann stood there watching them for a moment before leaving the family to themselves, and headed out of the hangar to go spend time with his own.


	8. Chapter 8

                “You like him, huh?” Theron said absentmindedly as he poked at a datapad. He was stripped down to a pair of sweats and was lounging on the bed he shared with Kara as he finished up some work before calling it a night. The family reunion had gone well, both of Kara’s sons had gotten to spend some time with their grandmother before she had excused herself for ‘personal’ reasons, and had spent much of the day with either Blue or Kara while she came and went from her responsibilities.

                “What? I like who?” Kara asked, as she sat down next to him. She raised her eyebrow in question, not getting where her lover was going.

                “Arcann.” He glanced up at her, “I saw you two in the hanger earlier. And you’ve been acting different around him, more than usual. So… you like him.”

                “Theron.” Kara looked at him seriously as she scooted to her side of the bed, “I don’t…” she sighed, “Ok maybe I do like him. _Maybe_. But I’m not going to do anything. I love _you_ , I’m not going to cheat on you.”

                “I know that.” Theron put the datapad down on a side table, “And I love you too.” He took her hand and looked her square in the eye. “And I’m saying you should go for it.” He gave her a smirk, the one that had won her heart time and time again.

                “What?” She asked again. “Go for- Theron are you telling me to go and ask Arcann out?”

                “Pretty much,” He shrugged, “well, maybe not a date, since I don’t think I’ve even had a chance to take you on one yet, but yeah.”

                “What am I supposed to do, go up to him and say ‘hey Arcann, you’re cute so…’” She made a double pistols gesture with her hands, “’Let’s bang, ok?’ Theron I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She looked at him incredulously, “Stop laughing, I’m serious, that’s a terrible idea.”

                Theron shook his head and shrugged, still laughing, “That’s pretty much how you got me.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “Alright, alright. Look, I know how you are, we’ve been together long enough.” He gave her a smile, “I just know you’ve thought of it, or will think of it, and not want to act on it because of me. So I want to give you the go ahead that if you want to get it out of your system and see how things go from there.”

                “I see, so either he rejects me and it’s awkward working alongside him, or he doesn’t and I’m conflicted with my own feelings?”

                “Or option three.” Theron grinned, “He goes for it, and we can come to some kind of arrangement for the three of us.”

                “So, you want to share me?” Kara asked, crossing her arms across her chest, “Or am I looking at this wrong.”

                 Theron ran his hand through his hair, “It’s not like that, but it is? Look, I know you like him, and I’m pretty sure he feels the same. And I’ll admit he’s a good guy and attractive, so I thought maybe we could try seeing how the three of us work?” Theron shrugged, “Honestly that sounded better in my head, but, here’s the thing, I love you and I want to be by your side every moment but I can’t. Sometimes you’ll be out there on a different planet while I’m back here on base waiting for you to check in. But I know he can be there when I can’t, so I thought… I just thought it’d be better if I knew that he’d be there for you as much as I would be.”

                Kara smiled and pulled him close, kissing him.

                “Alright, that sounded worse, just ignore that last bit.” He smiled at her as she leaned forward to kiss him again.

                “It sounded fine, Theron. I’ll talk to him tomorrow and see how he feels about it.”

                “Sounds like a plan.” Theron said, yawning and laying back on the bed, holding Kara close.

                “Tired already? Guess my boys had you running around more than I thought.” She laughed, laying her head on his chest.

                He glanced down at her, “I could be convinced to stay up later.” He grinned at her.

                “Hmmm. You could?” She rolled over to straddle his hips, leaning down to kiss him, “That convincing enough?”

                “It’s a start.” He laughed, and pulled her down for another kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, yes, but I really wanted to start building into the relationship between the three of them.


	9. Chapter 9

                He tossed and turned in bed, muttering unintelligibly before sitting up swiftly, eyes wide. Taking in the room, Trey found nothing out of the ordinary. Sighing heavily, he fell back onto the bed, rubbing his face with both hands.

                Another nightmare.

                Rolling over, he sat back up before pushing himself to his feet. Trey plodded over to the door and headed to the refresher to wash up. Turning on the light and taking a moment to take in his bedraggled appearance. Shaking his head he went about his morning routine.

                After so many years of being a pirate, and later a Sith, he thought he would be used to the nightmares. But everytime a new one would surface it would still catch him off-guard. This one wasn’t entirely new, he dreamt of when he and his sister were children. Happy and playing in their luxurious home, surrounded by all the toys that they could ever want and then some, loving parents, and overly-doting servants. Their parents were both powerful and well-known Sith Lords, his father was even a member of the Dark Council, giving their kids a life of love, luxury and high expectations. And then everything shifted. Normally the dream would continue how it went in reality, progressing to when his parents were killed and he was kidnapped.

                But this time it was different, he was standing in a lush field, surrounded by soldiers, the black and red of the armor marking them as Imperial.  He turned, taking in the fighting, his eyes tracking to where the enemy was surrounded in a small hold-out. The soldiers in the hold-out were all dressed in the traditional Republic uniforms, aside from two or three forms who were not. A flash of a purple lightsaber caught his attention, a pair of sabers flying out and cutting a path through the Imperials. The black clad form of a woman jumped out catching the blades in mid motion, sweeping the blades gracefully and cutting down a handful of soldiers. Even with the rebreather she wore, Trey immediately recognized her as his sister.

                One of the surviving soldiers charged at her, attempting to take the sith by surprise, but was struck down by a flurry of blaster bolts. A man ran up to stand back to back with the woman, shouting something to her. Trey didn’t recognize the man, but he was clearly a soldier, both by the full suit of heavy armor he wore and the cannon that he swung around as if it weighed nothing. And it probably did weigh nothing to him, the man was huge, towering over the woman he fought alongside.

                They fought side by side, but were slowly being pushed back. A pair of turquoise lightsabers were thrown into the mix, a small girl in Jedi garb assisting in the fight. But even with the added fighter, the republic soldiers were dying fast. First the small Jedi fell, pulling the attention of both Nora and the large soldier. An enraged scream escaped the pair of them, and his sister charged at her enemies in a frenzy, cutting down any she could reach. But even with the strength of her emotions, the Sith fell shortly after, quickly followed by the soldier she had fought alongside, as he charged in to back her up.

                The imperials overwhelmed the remaining Republic soldiers, something that Trey should’ve been proud of, but seeing his sister, his twin, die right before his eyes, sickened him and caused him to jolt awake.

                Trey sighed, drying his face and hands as he headed to the small kitchen on the ship. It wasn’t his ship, and for that he was glad. The place was a mess, covered in spare clothes and weaponry of all types. It was spacious, but still felt cluttered, the owner using the ship more for storage and transportation rather than an actual living space.

                As soon as he entered the room he found the owner, a bounty hunter of high rapport that had fallen off the radar after the Eternal Empire invaded. The champion of the great hunt. Or champions as it were.

                “Rough night?” Koren asked, picking at his food lazily. His dark hair was all over the place, and Trey would’ve thought he hadn’t cleaned up yet if he didn’t look like that on a constant basis. The hunter yawned, giving up on his breakfast, leaning back and stretching, his black tank ridding up slightly to show off his tattoos.

                Trey shook his head, “Nothing out of the ordinary.” He took a seat next to the other hunter and Koren’s current crewmate and fellow champion.

                “Another nightmare then.” Shey stated, brushing her long white hair. Trey fixed her with a glare, “That’s what I thought.” She said, smiling, her blue eyes sparkling clearly entertained by his annoyance.

                “Not exactly.” He grumbled, taking the leftover food from Koren, “It’s hard to explain.”

                “What happened?” Koren asked. When the sith didn’t reply, he changed the question. “Alright… Where were you in it?”

                Shey looked at him questioningly but didn’t speak, instead letting Trey reply.

                “What does it matter?” He asked, annoyance clear in his voice. While he got along well with both hunters, he didn’t like being questioned about his personal life. Not that the death of his wife had helped with his temper.

                “You force users can see the future right?” Koren gestured in the air vaguely, “Maybe it was a warning or something.”

                Trey glared at him, but he had to admit that it was a possibility. “Alderaan.” He thought back to the dream, pulling any memory of the landscape he could, “I’m pretty sure it was Alderaan.”

                “Then that’s where we’ll go.” Koren pushed himself to his feet, heading out of the room to plot the jump.

                “Thank you Kor.” Trey said, joining the hunter in the cockpit and leaving Shey to finish her meal. “I’ll pay you back for this favor.”

                Koren shook his head, half distracted as he punched in the coordinates and sent his ship into hyperspace. “Don’t worry about it, I still owe you a few favors. Although I wouldn’t turn down a kiss.” He turned to look at the sith, giving him a wink.

                Trey shook his head, “Sorry, all I can promise is credits.” He grinned at his friend. “Nice try though.”

                Koren laughed, “One day you’ll fall for my charms.” He grinned proudly as he stood up. “Go gear up, we’ll be there in a couple hours, and I’d prefer to be ready for anything, especially since we’re going because of your dream.” He patted Trey on the back, nodding at the man before leaving him alone in the room.

                Trey headed to his room, pulling out his gear and prepping his weapons. After checking and double checking his gear, he took a deep breath as he felt the ship decelerate. Time to see if his dream was a warning of the future or not. He closed his eyes, preparing himself a moment, reigning in his emotions as best he could, and pulled on his long coat, clipping the straps in place. Pulling up the hood, he put on his mask and headed out the door, ready to face whatever Alderaan would throw at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a note:  
> Shey was my very first bounty hunter, and she's married to Torian. (her fullname is Sheyshen)  
> And Koren was made before shey, but wasn't played until after. He's romancing Theron in game, but is single in this (and may possibly be interested in Trey. possibly...)  
> Also Trey is very different when he's not angry, and I hope that came across well because he's very doting on his twin sister and is generally really chill and a bit of a dork. But when he's mad he goes for the throat without a second thought.


	10. Chapter 10

                Kara closed her eyes a moment, planning what she would say. She wasn’t used to talking about her feelings with others, since just about everyone she had slept with had either been a onetime deal, or Theron. And just about everything to do with her relationship with Theron seemed to come naturally, there was no awkward crush stage, wondering if the other felt the same as them. It just happened.

                So this was completely new territory for her. Winging it was out of the question, she wanted to see if he was interested before she put her foot in her mouth on accident. Theron had assured her that she would be fine, but aside from him, the only other relationship she had actually been in was with Darmas, and aside from getting Connor out of it, that whole situation ended up a disaster.

                Shaking her head, she decided worrying about what could happen would just make things more difficult. First she had to find Arcann, something that was proving difficult. Lana had told her that he was training alongside the other force users, but when she had arrived at the training grounds Sana-Rae had said that he had left to find Senya.

                Tracking down Senya had been much easier, but the knight claimed that she hadn’t seen him since eating that morning. Huffing in annoyance, Kara thanked her before leaving and taking the elevator up from the war room.

                It was a beautiful day, hardly a cloud in the sky. Walking out onto the balcony, she took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air after having spent much of the morning in the war room.  It was a nice feeling, and she wasn’t the only one who decided to take a walk on the balcony. The repairs had progressed quickly, and she spotted a good amount of alliance soldiers catching up by the railings or leaning against the wall reviewing their orders for the day. Many of them were older members, former Republic and Imperial soldiers who had joined up when the Alliance had initially formed, but now Kara was able to pick out some new recruits, a few of them clearly former Knights. She smiled at that, so many people of varying backgrounds working together seamlessly to help the galaxy.

                Her attention was drawn to a large panel on the wall that faced out towards the Gravestone. Her smile faded slightly as she took in the monument that she had requested. It was a solid black slab that had the names of the people who had died during the fight against the Eternal Empire. Walking over to check out the finished monument, Kara found the man she had been looking for.

                Arcann’s eyes scanned the names on the wall, his face carefully neutral but there was a sadness in his eyes. Kara approached him carefully, trying her best not to surprise him. He didn’t say anything to her as she stood next to him quietly, taking in the work that had been done on the wall. Glancing over at the prince, she noted him having focused on one name in particular.

                Vaylin.

                There had been some complaints when she had proposed that Vaylin’s name be added to the monument, though they had added it nonetheless. It sat there near the bottom in a special place along with Vette. The ones who helped end the war once and for all.

                A choked laugh escaped Arcann as he read the letters etched into the wall. “I don’t know if she would be happy or pissed that her name is listed here.” He looked over to Kara.

                “She was a victim just the same as everyone else in this war. And she helped us stop Valkorion. Her name deserves to be remembered.” Kara said simply, she gave him a small smile. “It was the least I could do for her.”

                “Thank you.” Arcann looked back at the monument, “I’m sure mother will be proud to see her name here as well.”

                “You’re both welcome to take some time if you need it. I know things have been busy with repairs, but if you need time to mourn you’re welcome to it.”

                “I appreciate it, Commander.” He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “But I prefer to do things rather than sit around and wallow in my misery.”

                Kara nodded, “If you ever need to talk, I’m here for you. Both of you.” She watched him as he ran through the names again.

                He nodded, but didn’t speak. They stood side by side, in a comfortable silence.

                Kara was glad she decided to wait on trying to figure out what she would say, because now was not the time to try and get a feel on what he felt for her. Now was the time he needed his family by his side. She glanced at him, the sadness in his eyes had faded slightly, but it was still there.

                ‘And I have you.’ His letter had made it clear that he cared about her, at least as a friend. And he had been by her side during the recovery from her injuries. So she decided that she would take a risk.

                She reached over, taking his hand carefully, and gripped it firmly before leaning close so she was leaning on his shoulder. He looked at her, a bit of surprise on his face, but he squeezed her hand in return, a small smile gracing his lips.

                He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, both of their comms started beeping.

                Kara grabbed hers and pushed the button on it with her free hand, refusing to let go of Arcann. “Lana? Is everything alright?”

                “Commander, good, where are you?” The sith spoke quickly, avoiding Kara’s question.

                “On the balcony…” Lana sounded concerned. “What’s wrong?”

                “We received a transmission from Major Jorgan. I think it’d be best if you could come down here to view it.” She paused, “And please bring Arcann with you as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been busy lately so I haven't had much time to work on this, so it's short and to the point. and by point, i mean cliffhanger. Sorry about that, but I'll try and update soon so you're not all hanging for long.


	11. Chapter 11

                “The transmission came in only moments ago, Commander.” Theron said as soon as both Kara and Arcann entered the war room. “The connection was iffy, but we managed to get something from it.”

                “Bad news?” Kara asked, seeing him so jumpy was concerning, and with Lana seeming nervous as well, she could only guess what the topic could be about.

                “From what we could get? It might be.” Koth answered. They opened up a holo message.

                “-This is--- we’ve been--- coordinates attached to --- Alderaan, near House--- Please send backup!” The heavily armored soldier glitched in and out, the message clearly been recorded and sent as quickly and securely they could manage.

                “Was that Mikael?” Kara asked, it was hard to tell with all the armor and the interference with the holo.

                “This was forwarded over to us from Major Jorgan before he headed to the location.” Lana spoke up, closing the holo and bringing up a holo of Alderaan. “He also sent us copies of the coordinates.” She tapped on the datapad in her hand, and an area of Alderaan lit up red, zooming in to focus on the coordinates. “Looks like they’re set up in the Juran Mountains, near House Alde.”

                Kara scrunched up her face at the mention of the house. She earned a few questioning looks, but no one said anything.

                “Alright, then upload the coords to my ship and I’ll head out immediately.” Kara spoke up, already heading down the steps to the hall leading to the military wing and her ship.

                “We’re not letting you go out there alone.” Lana stated matter-of-factly. “Not after last time.”

                “Lana, my injuries are healed, and it’s not like I’m going to run into Trey out there.”

                “But this Mikael may be with his wife,” Senya looked at the map as she spoke, “And you said she’s Trey’s twin, correct?”

                “Yes, but if he wasn’t with her on Nar Shaddaa he won’t be with her there.” Kara sighed, knowing that she wasn’t going to win this battle, “True, they were nearly inseparable after they reunited, but I doubt he’ll be at the camp as well. He isn’t exactly on good terms with the Republic, even if his sister is.”

                “Just take someone with you, Kara.” Theron spoke up, he looked at her seriously, “At least to make us feel better. You really worried us last time.” He paused, “I’d like to know you’re safe. So…” He trailed off, glancing at the others gathered at the holo table with him.

                Kara put her hands up in defeat. “Fine. You win.” She shook her head, “Anyone who wants to go can come with, but I’m still taking my ship.”

                Theron gave her a small smile. She knew how much he worried after she came back to Odessen a bloody mess, and she didn’t want to worry him more, if she could avoid it. She’d give him this win.

                Kara continued down the steps, “I’ll leave in a half hour. The door will be open until then, so don’t rush, alright?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey! It's been awhile but I'm getting to working on this again. I have a bit written up, so I should be able to post a few chapters over the next few days or so. Thank you all for being so patient with me!


	12. Chapter 12

                The trip to Alderaan was uneventful, aside from the cramped cockpit of Kara’s freighter. She had offered to bring anyone who wanted to go with, but she hadn’t expected so many to go with her. Nor did she expect most of them to insist on sitting in the cockpit.

                She sighed as the ship dropped out of hyperspace, decelerating smoothly. It still hitched as it hit a slower speed, but that wasn’t anything new. It was an old ship, though she did her best to maintain it, she was nowhere near as great a mechanic as Risha was. But the old girl held together.

                Punching in her docking request, she began to bring the ship down to land at the Republic spaceport. Kara stretched and turned her chair back and forth as the ship entered the atmosphere.

                “We should be on the ground soon,” She called over her shoulder to the various people in the small room, “I’ve got some friends here that offered to give us a ride to Mikael’s camp as soon as we land.”

                “Friends?” Senya questioned.

                Kara glanced up at the Knight as she leaned on her chair, “Some people I met on a job here. They’re good people.”

                “I take it you met quite a few people here during that ‘job’.”

                Laughing, Kara tapped at the keys before her, bringing the ship down as gently as she could. “I met the Supreme Commander here before he got the promotion. It was interesting working with him.” She grinned at that memory, “The one I’m talking about though is Lenn Teraan. He’s a good guy, bit of a flirt, but still good.”

                “You asked for help from an ex?” Theron asked, his voice carefully neutral. “Doesn’t that seem like a strange thing to do?”

                “I don’t think one date would make him an ex,” She eyed him knowingly, “But no, I don’t think it would be strange, him and his sister owe me a debt for fighting on their behalf. I don’t think asking for a ride would be too much to ask for in return.”

                “How long has it been since you’ve been here?” Arcann spoke up. He was lounging in the other chair.

                “It was before Caleb was born, so…” She paused, “maybe 12 years? Give or take a year or two.”

                “And you think they would remember you doing a job for them over a decade ago?”

                “Of course, I already made the arrangements. I happen to make great first impressions and can be pretty unforgettable.” Kara winked at him as she finishing the landing procedures and started to let the ship decompress. Standing up, her and her passengers grabbed their gear and headed off the ship.           

                The space port was busy, people milling about as Kara and her crew made their way through the crowds, the smuggler looking for a familiar face. Not spotting Lenn, she led her friends out of the space port, finding two large speeders waiting, the noble that she had been looking for sitting behind the wheel of one and Bowdaar in the other. Lenn spotted the group as they approached the waiting vehicles, waving them over.

                “Lenn! It’s so good to see you again.” Kara grinned at him.

                “And you as well. You look ravishing as always Captain.” He paused, “Though I suppose it’s Commander now, or… Empress?” He gave her a grin of his own. “Bowdaar caught me up on what has happened since we saw each other last.”

                “Commander is fine,” She shook her head, “I’d hate to cut the pleasantries short, but perhaps it would be best to talk while we travel.”

                “Yes! Of course, you said it was an emergency on the holo.” He gestured for them all to get in the speeders.

                Lana greeted Bowdaar as she seated herself in the seat next to him, the wookie growling his own greeting back, Senya seating herself behind the pair, while Kara took a place next to Lenn with Theron and Arcann behind them.

                “You are the former Emperor correct?” Lenn started the speeder off toward their destination as he started speaking to the other two passengers. “It’s good to meet you.” While he sounds sincere in his words, he also was clearly nervous.

                Arcann nodded. “Likewise. The Commander says you’re a friend of hers?”

                “Yes, she had been hired for a delivery for my sister and myself.” He chuckled, “Between the side jobs you did for us and fighting for us, I still believe we still owe her so much.”

                Kara waved him off, “You didn’t have to pay me back for any of it, it was partially my fault anyway.” She laughed, “How has your sister been? Busy since you got those documents out of the droid?”

                “Very, between reclaiming our family’s fortune and repairing our alliances with the other houses, she’s barely had time to respond to her suitors.”

                “Suitors? Good for her, I bet there’s a good amount considering her charm.” She winked.

                “Yes there are plenty vying for her attention.” He glanced at Kara as she leaned against the door and watched the mountains as they sped along. “As I’m sure you do as well.”

                She glanced at him, an eyebrow raised. “I haven’t noticed any aside from Theron.” She glanced at him, giving him a goofy grin. “Speaking of, are you alright back there? You’ve been quiet.”

                Theron nodded, “Just running through a plan before we meet up with the Major.” He grinned back. “Besides, I’m pretty sure practically all your attention has been on me as well. I’m a lucky guy.”

                Kara laughed, earning a look from Lenn. “I didn’t know you two were together.”

                “For a few years now.” Kara leaned on the side of the speeder, returning her attention to the passing scenery. “The Alliance’s worst kept secret honestly.”

                “Downside of being with a spy.” Theron shrugged.

                “There were rumors going around even in Zakuul.” Arcann added in.

                Kara looked at him, clearly entertained by this. “Really? There was gossip about us floating around between Zakuulan nobles?”

                Arcann eyed her, “It was mostly between the knights. And there were more than just who is the commander sleeping with that was discussed, but yes, there was gossip.”

                She turned her attention away again, a huge grin on her face. “Awesome.”

                From there the conversation turned to recent events around Alderaan for the rest of the journey, but their conversation was cut off as they reached the coordinates they were given, smoke rising up from the center of tents and a line of bodies locked in combat near the edges of the camp.

                A small team of people were standing on a hill a short distance away, clearly wanting to join in the fight, but holding back for the time being. Lenn brought the speeders to the group, getting the attention of their leader. The man ran over to meet Kara as she got of the speeder.

                “Good to see you made it in time Commander.” Aric snapped off a quick salute before turning his attention to the battle nearby. “We’ve been scouting out the area, trying to find some weakness in their ranks.”

                “Any luck?” She asked.

                “Hardly, sir.” Aric shook his head, nodding towards the line of imperials. “They have a sturdy perimeter set up, they’re serious about winning this one.”

                Kara sighed, glancing at her friends as they joined them. “I don’t want to get involved, but it looks like we’re going to have to ruin their day.”

                Aric grinned, “I was hoping you’d say that. My CO is in there, and I refuse to sit by and watch him get killed.”

                Kara returned his grin before turning and addressing the rest. “Looks like we’re joining the party. Lana, I want you Theron and Senya to back up Havoc when they make their push. Arcann, you, Bowdaar and Aric are with me.” She glanced at Lenn. “Lenn, Thank you for the lift, but I think it’d be safest if you went back without us.”

                “Are you sure?” He asked. “I mean, I’m no fighter, but I’m sure there’s something I can do?”

                Kara shook her head. “Unless you want to just hang back until the fight is over to give us a hand with injuries. But I’d rather not put you at risk. I don’t want you to get hurt because of us, and Cedonia would kill me if something happened to you.”

                Lenn nodded, “I’ll stay back, but I’m not leaving, not yet.”

                She sighed, nodding and turning back to Aric. “What do our forces look like?”

                He thought a moment, “Last we checked, we are outnumbered 2 to 1. Though aside from our group about to back them up, the Republic seems to have a handful of force users on their side.”

                “Anyone in particular?” Kara asked.

                Aric shook his head, “None that I could tell from here. We’ve seen the occasional lightsaber, but outside of that we can’t even pick out the Major in that group from here.”

                “And the enemy?”

                “No sith from what we’ve seen, but the soldiers are strong, and are pushing the republic back.”

                Kara looked out towards the fight, thinking a moment, “Alright, then let’s stop wasting time and get in there.”


	13. Chapter 13

                It felt endless. War was something she hated; fighting for force knows what reason. As a Jedi she was taught to end in, and as a Sith she was taught to instigate it. But pointless combat always left a bad taste in her mouth. But even still, Nora refused to back down. While this was a pointless fight between the Republic and the Empire, it wasn’t for her. Her husband and daughter were fighting, and she’d be damned if she wasn’t there by their side.

                A blaster bolt zipped by her head, and she could hear her heavy breathing in the rebreather she was wearing. She didn’t need it to breath, but it did have a certain intimidation factor to it that she wasn’t about to pass up. She swung her lightsabers, spinning and striking at soldiers that were once her allies. Deflecting shots that were meant for Mikael as he followed close behind her, the rhythmic sound of his cannon keeping her grounded as she focused on what she was fighting for.

                She missed the days when all she worried about was traveling the stars with her crew, and keeping off the radar of most of the Sith she had ever met. After defeating and shaming Baras, all she had wanted was to go back to her family, to be with her husband and daughter, and her brother and sister. She longed for peace.

                But peace was hard won, and seemingly harder by the second, she thought as she spotted the team of soldiers on the back hill. Their numbers had grown since she first spotted them. She picked out about twenty from where she stood. She didn’t know if they were allies or enemies, they wore no colors that would indicate which side they were. So she just kept fighting, if they were enemies, she’d kill them, if they weren’t she’d welcome them. That’s all there was to it.

                A glint of light caught her eye and she spotted a speeder heading their way. She sighed, throwing her lightsabers and falling back to stand by her husband’s side. “Looks like we have more company.”

                He glanced in the directions she indicated, his helmet swiveling back and forth between the people on the hill, who split off and started towards the fighting, and the speeder that was heading in. “Think either of them are Havoc?” He asked as he turned his attention back to the fight.

                “I hope so.” She said. Her voice was pained. Mikael wasn’t sure when she had gotten injured, but he knew his wife well enough to know when she was ready to quit and rest. Unfortunately, they had both hit that hours ago.

                “Here.” He pressed the needle of the kolto shot into her arm. “I’m sure they’re here to help, whoever they end up being, I’ll just be happy to take a break.”

                She laughed, “A hot bath and a big fluffy bed just for the two of us?”

                He grinned, chucking the used kolto container at a charging soldier before firing on them. “You got a deal”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter, yes, but there is a bit of bopping around between characters between this chapter, the previous one, and the next couple. So felt it was better to cut it short instead of it shifting to a different focus. :D


	14. Chapter 14

                It felt familiar, looking out on the landscape as they zipped across the fields of Alderaan. Trey had only been here once years ago, but it felt so familiar. Whether that was due to his dream or the emotion that was rolling off of Shey next to him, he wasn’t entirely sure. She had mentioned that she was from Alderaan when they were landing, but she didn’t say much more than that. He didn’t talk with her much, she looked nothing like his daughter, but her name was so similar to his Sheyren, and their personalities were so much alike, he couldn’t help but want to push her for more of her background.

                “You’re from here?” He asked again. His voice sounded foreign even to himself. He still wasn’t used to wearing the mask, but he felt safer wearing it, hiding behind the metal as he quietly grieved. “Were you born here? Being a noble seems to fit actually.”

                She glanced at him, her long hair tucked into the collar of her red jacket to keep it from flying around. “I’m not a noble.” She answered plainly. “And other than that, like I told you before, I don’t know.”

                He raised an eyebrow at her comment, but she couldn’t see. Instead the third of their team spoke up, “She doesn’t know anything from when she was small. Right?” Koren asked loudly, “She was picked up by an old legend, Grey Shen right?”

                Shey nodded, “ And you’re listening to music in your helmet again aren’t you?”

                Koren laughed, the low gravelly sound to his voice distorted by the helmet. “Always am,  if you ever wore your gear you could too y’know.”

                She smirked, “I prefer my coat, thank you.”

                “ So did your ex and your husband.” Koren leaned back, lounging in the back of the speeder. How he could get comfortable in all that armor, Trey could never figure out.

                Trey perked up at that, “I didn’t know you were married.”

                Shey scowled, “Twice, both happily.” She turned the speeder, taking it another direction that brought them to a river. She parked there, pausing to stretch. “Had a daughter with my first husband, but we didn’t work out. Now I’m with Torian.”

                Trey went to speak up but was cut off by Koren, “Torian was part of my crew, a Mandalorian.” Trey could feel him grinning at him. “Not sure who the other guy is, never met him.”

                “And I pray you never do.” She stated as she got out of the speeder to check some things before hopping back in and continuing on. “We didn’t part on bad terms, we’re still close friends. In fact you two are very similar.”

                “Now I really want to meet the guy.” Koren said with a sing-song tone to his voice. “What about you tough guy? Any family aside from your sister.”

                “Some, yes.” Trey looked back out at the fields. “Why?”

                “Same reason you’re asking my dear Shey-shey here. We’ve traveled together for a while but we barely know you. So Trey-trey? You tell me yours, I tell you mine?” Trey could just feel the smug enjoyment radiating off the hunter.

                Sighing he gave in, “Both my parents are gone, but I have a daughter, Sheyren. She’s training to be a Jedi last I saw her.” He paused, trying to keep his voice steady, “I had a wife, but I… lost her to the Eternal Empire.”

                Koren sat up, “I’m sorry.”

                Trey shook his head. “She knew what she was getting into, she was always like that, trying to help, unlike me.” He laughed, “Still don’t know what she saw in me to begin with honestly.”

                “You were together a long time.” Shey spoke up.

                He nodded, “She was a slave my sister saved. A literal ray of sunshine. I just hope she was able to help like she wanted to.”

                “I’m sure she did,” Koren put his hand on the Sith’s shoulder, “And I’m sure she wouldn’t want you to be so down. Mourn her, but don’t keep yourself from continuing on.”

                Trey looked at him, a question forming.

                Koren shook his head, “Lost my brother when I was young. He died protecting me and I made a lot of mistakes trying to avenge him.” He took off his helmet and looked Trey right in the eye. “Don’t make that mistake.”

                Trey nodded.

                Putting his helmet back on, He spoke up again, more cheer in his voice. “Anyway…  We’re going to find your sister right?”

                “Yes, and her husband most likely.” Trey sighed, “And hopefully not get shot in the process.”

                Koren laughed, “I take it the old brother in law doesn’t like you?”

                “He’s a Republic trooper. A medic, sure, but a soldier none the less.” Trey shrugged, “I’m happy for her, but I’m not crazy about her marrying the enemy. That’s it otherwise.” He turned his attention back on Koren. “Now what about you?”

                “What about me?” The hunter asked. Trey cocked his head to the side, “Oh fine, my family, yes. Well I mention the dead older brother, so not counting him, I have ten other siblings.” Koren scooted down in the seats he was lounging in, “Two of them are identical to me, which is why I got this tattoo. I’m not a part of a set to be used interchangeably, I’m me. So I went and became something different than them.”

                “A bounty hunter?”

                “Mostly was going for ‘not a Jedi’.” Koren huffed, “My brothers, they joined the Jedi temple that was near our home after our big brother died, wanted to make our parents proud since the three of us were born force sensitive. Not me though, I wanted justice for our blood, ended up leaving, and here we are.”

                “You’re a force user?” Trey asked, his curiosity piqued.

                “Not officially, I wasn’t trained, so don’t expect me to be doing any fancy flips or shoot lightning out of my fingers, You can have all that fun Trey. I can make stuff float on accident if I get mad though, that’s about it.” He shrugged. “Other than that, I thought I had a girlfriend once here on Ald, but she was just using me to make her dad mad.” He chuckled at the memory, “Dated a nice guy some years back, he was a spy if I remember right, but a job ended up pulling me away before we got too serious. I miss him sometimes.” He pushed himself up so he was leaning on his arms, Trey could hear a little bit of music coming from his helmet. “That’s it. Been all work since then.”

                “And your parents?” Trey asked.

                “Alive last I checked in, hopefully not having more kids. I’m happy being the middle child of twelve, I don’t want more siblings.” He chuckled, “I send them money time to time, and I’ve been meaning to visit, but I haven’t had a chance in a while.”

                “You worry for them.”

                “Just like you worry for your sister.” He paused, thinking.

                Trey left him to his thoughts, and took in the area as they sped by. Some bits feeling more familiar than others. They must be getting close.

                Koren started speaking again, more awkward than the nonchalant ramble about his large family. “I just.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his helmet. He looked up at the Sith and goes, “I’ll visit them after this job I think. I just didn’t want to disappoint them since I didn’t end up how they wanted.”

                Trey nodded, “I don’t think any of us end up being how our parents want us.” He glances at Shey, who’s been keeping her eyes trained straight ahead, “You’re doing what you can to make the world a better place. You might not’ve become a Jedi to do it, but you’re helping. I think they’re proud of you.”

                Koren smiled, “And I’m sure your sister is proud of you.”

                Trey laughed, shaking his head. “That’s to be decided. I did try and kill her best friend after all.”

                “Well we’re about to find out.” Shey said as they crested the hill. “We’re here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More info on who we're dealing with.   
> Some tidbits about Koren; I was inspired to have him listening to music when I was taking him through KotFE and was doing the chapter when you get Gault and Vette and I had Square Hammer by Ghost cranked on my headphones during one of the cutscenes. And it just fit him so well I had to make it part of him. He mainly listens to music when he's working to help him focus. But he'll listen to it pretty much whenever he's wearing his helmet unless he's really invested in the conversation. Then he'll just turn it down enough so he can hear better.  
> Also I'm pretty sure most of you can figure out who his exes were. ;)


	15. Chapter 15

                Hours of fighting had taken its toll on Nora and Mikael. Their strength was flagging and their backup was slowly being whittled down. The group that she had spotted on the hill had disappeared sometime during the combat, and she had lost sight of the speeder as well. A flash of a turquoise lightsaber flying past caught her attention, and the young jedi that went leaping after them. Her daughter shouldn’t be this far out. She had told her to stay in the back where it was safer.

                “Lyra!” She shouted, turning and chasing after her daughter, and leaving her husband to his own defenses for a time.

                A grunt of pain was her only reply as the Jedi was knocked back and fell to the ground, the brown tunic she favored caked with mud. Fear lanced through Nora as she saw her daughter fall, and she charged to her daughter’s side, cutting down a handful of unlucky soldiers that got in her way. She heard her husband catch up to her as she knelt down to check for injuries.

                “I’m fine.” She winced, “Just took a bad hit. They’ve got a Sith in there.”

                Nora grimaced and then turned her attention toward the direction her daughter had been thrown from, narrowing her grey eyes dangerously. “Mik, take her back and patch her up.”

                He looked down at his wife and she could feel his surprise and immediate refusal before he spoke. “Not a chance. I told you I’m with you no matter what”

                She stood up, giving him a sad smile. Her rebreather was gone, the device having been destroyed by a lucky hit from one of the enemy troops. “I’ll be fine love. Take her back and try and find out what happened to Aric.” He went to refuse again but she ran off before he could.

                He shook his head, “May the Force keep you safe.” He mumbled as he turned to help his daughter up and navigate through the throngs of people back to camp.

                She ran into the Sith in question sooner than she had planned, his red lightsaber was lit and he shot at her with a blaster as soon as he spotted her.

                “Well, if it isn’t the Emperor’s Wrath.” He sneered, dropping the blaster and flourishing his lightsaber. “I do believe you’re on the wrong side my dear.”

                Nora glared at him, bringing both of her blades up and standing at the ready.

                The Sith tsked, “My, how you have fallen, what would Empress Acina think.

                “I don’t serve Acina.” Nora stood still, waiting for him to make the first strike.

                It didn’t take long for him to do so, the Sith brought the blade up and charged forward, using the force to propel him. Nora reacted on instinct and deflected the strike with one of her lightsabers and brought the other around to strike at his side. Kicking her leg, the Sith leapt back a short distance before charging back in. Nora crouched, her leg hurt where he had kicked her and she was exhausted. She doubted she would last in a lengthy fight.

                When the sith brought his blade down to hit her, she rolled out of the way at the last second, using part of her blade and her gauntlet to direct the strike down and to the side as she moved. Getting back to her feet she lunged at him, catching him in the shoulder and across the stomach. He grunted in pain, stumbling slightly but got back to his feet in less than a heartbeat.

                “I can see why you were chosen.” He grinned, clearly enjoying the pain he had to’ve been in. “But you’re slow. Are you tired already?”

                Nora growled, and charged him again, bringing her lightsabers around and striking at him again. He managed to deflect one blade but the other bit into his leg. He pushed back, skidding away and leaping forward once more, catching her in mid movement. Nora dodged his strike, but bumped into an Imperial that was trying his best not to get mixed up the fight. The Sith caught the soldier and Nora in a sweep, knocking both to the ground with the Force.

                “That’s all?” He asked, gripping his hand and forcing the pair into the dirt. She could hear the crack of bone and a whimper of pain from the soldier beneath her. Gritting her teeth she pushed back with the Force, attempting to knock the Sith off balance and to save both herself and the soldier. Her efforts were met with a stronger push at her and a sick laugh from her enemy. Tears pricked at her eyes as she felt her ribs strain.

                And then suddenly the pressure was gone. She rolled off the poor soldier and coughed as she was able to breathe normally once more, chocking out an “are you okay?” to the man at her side.

                He didn’t move at first, but then he gave a shaky nod and replied. “Still alive.”

                She pushed herself up, and looked toward the Sith to see what had interrupted him. He stood there, with a lightsaber through his heart. The golden blade going out a moment later and a man in white armor stepping around the corpse. She squinted, he was familiar but she couldn’t place him.

                “Nora!” She heard someone call and turned to see Kara run to her. “Are you alright? Oh, you look terrible.”       

                “Kara?” She asked, her voice coming back to her. She earned a small smile from the smuggler before she was pulled into a hug.

                “I’m so glad, I thought I wouldn’t make it in time.” Kara stood up, and checked on the soldier that was still on the ground next to them. The other man came over to, and squatted down by her side.

                “He’s wounded, but it shouldn’t kill him.” He spoke quietly, and Nora realized that a majority of the people that were fighting around her were gone.

                “We’ll bring him back to camp and patch him up.” Kara replied, “Let’s get him and Nora on their feet.”

                He nodded, “Major Jorgan isn’t going to be happy.” He smirked a little at that as he stood up and helped Kara to her feet before helping the wounded soldier.

                “True, but I’m the one in charge, Arcann, I’m not going to leave him behind.”

                Arcann just shrugged, “I’m not saying you shouldn’t leave him.” He slung the injured man’s arm over his shoulder, “Just should probably get him out of here before those three in the speeder catch up.”

                Kara blanched, “You don’t need to remind me, I didn’t forget about them.” She helped Nora up, “Let’s get out of here. Bowdaar should be nearby still.” She glanced over at Nora, a smile on her face, “It’s so good to see you again, sis.”

                “And you as well.” Nora replied. “Though I am surprised to see you here. How did you find us?”

                “Mikael sent a distress out and Aric forwarded it over to us.” She watched the man in front of her as they made their way.

                “And who’s your friend? You called him Arcann. Like Emperor Arcann?”

                “That’s him.” Kara grinned. “It’s a long story.”

                “I saw the broadcast, but..” Nora trailed off.

                “You’re not the only one who doesn’t trust me.” Arcann spoke up.

                “Oh hush, Koth is coming around, and so is the rest of the Alliance.” Kara scowled at him.

                “I meant no offense.” Nora looked away.

                “It’s alright.” He said, “I’m working on proving that I’ve changed. I knew it wouldn’t be easy.”

                Kara looked at him sadly, “Is this because of Caleb and Connor?” He didn’t reply. She sighed, “They’ll come around. Koro said they’re like that with everyone. Just watch, they’ll meet Nora and hide too.”

                “What?” Nora looked at her sister, “I’m their Aunt, why would they hide.”

                Kara grinned, “Well you are a big bad Sith.” This earned a chuckle from Arcann.

                Nora huffed, wincing at the strain on her ribs, “I guess I’ll just have to go back to Odessen with you and meet them won’t I.”

                “I guess so.”

                The soldier at Arcann’s side spoke up, “What will you do with me?” He sounded so young.

                “Depends,” Arcann replied, “We’ll get you patched up and then it’s the Commander’s call.”

                “Commander?” The soldier asked, surprised.

                “You’ll be free to do what you want. You can go back to the Empire or you can stay with us in the Alliance.” Kara replied smoothly.

                “You’d let me join? Even though we were just fighting you?”

                Kara shrugged, “If you want.” She let him think it over, and then saw him nod.

                “Alright.” He said quietly.

                They looked up as they heard a roar from Bowdaar, the soldier jolting slightly in surprise. The wookie rushed over to pick up Nora as soon as he saw them, relieving his friend of her burden and reuniting with another friend in the process.

                “I missed you too big guy.” Nora laughed a little, “But go easy on me alright.” He growled in reply and kept pace with Arcann and Kara as they helped the soldier the rest of the way to the Republic camp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More combat! Because you guys like how I write fight scenes right? Next is the awkward reunions for a handful of people ;)  
> As always, hit up the comments, I'd love to hear what you guys think of how the story is going as well as general opinions!  
> Thanks, and have a great week!!


	16. Chapter 16

                “You have got to be kidding me.” Koren muttered as he hopped out of the speeder. They were on the edge of the Imperial lines, watching as Havoc Squad charged in, backed up by Lana, Senya and Theron. “Look at that, they have two Jedi and they think they can take the place by force.”

                Shey leaned on his shoulder, “Are they trying to get themselves killed?”

                “I doubt it.” Trey walked past them, heading toward the fight, “I recognize Lana in there, so they have the Alliance backing them. And us as well.” He pulled his lightsabers from his belt, igniting the them as he charged in. The pure white of the blades catching the attention of some nearby soldiers as he shoved his way through.

                “I was afraid you’d say that.” Koren grumbled, pulling his twin blasters free and chasing after the Sith, Shey hot on his heels.

                Fighting through the surprised soldiers was easy enough, between Shey’s flamethrower and Trey’s focused charge through the ranks, Koren felt like he was unneeded for this, just following along and picking of stragglers as he kept pace with his team.

                “Lana!” Trey shoved his lightsaber in the air, getting her attention and making it clear he was an ally.

                “Cresh? What are you doing here?” Lana asked, surprise evident in her voice as she threw back a handful of soldiers.

                “Oh, you know, he’s just seeing the sights.” Koren replied sarcastically. He shot down two soldiers before tossing a med pack to one of Havoc’s. He glanced Theron’s way, but kept quiet otherwise.

                Trey shot him a glare before responding to Lana’s question, “We were here on our own business, saw you charging in and thought you could use a hand.”

                “Well I’m glad you did.” Theron said, “We’re just working our way to the Republic camp. You give us a hand and maybe we can help you with what you’re here for.”

                Trey nodded. “Deal.” He threw his lightsabers cutting down a few more soldiers before leaping in, catching the blades in mid motion.

                 “Always on the move…” Koren sighed before chasing after him, shooting anyone who got too close.

                The team moved quickly and efficiently, carving a path as they went. To their left they saw a fight break out between two Sith, but before they could move in to help Senya spotted Kara and Arcann move in. Soon enough the Imperials were on the run, retreating from the fight.

                Seeing the fight was over, Lana escorted them to the Republic camp, waving down Major Jorgan as they went.

                “A decisive victory, Major. Congratulations.” Senya smiled at him.

                “Thanks to your efforts.” He replied, giving her a smile of his own. “The Commander is already speaking with Major Hawke. I’ll take you to them.”

                Lana nodded her thanks as she followed the Cathar through the camp, Trey and the two bounty hunters close behind, and backed up by Theron and Senya.

                “This guy is one of Lana’s contacts right?” Theron whispered to Senya.

                “Yes, Though this is the first time I’ve met him in person.” She glanced his way, “You don’t trust him.”

                “He’s just a bit smaller than I figured he’d be.” Theron sighed. “But, no, I don’t trust him. The timing just seemed too perfect.”

                Koren fell back to walk in pace with them, “And you think he got the transmission from your Major and decided to help?” He took off his helmet as he spoke, “Because you’d be very wrong if that’s what you thought.”

                Theron glared at him, before his eyebrows shot up in surprise, “Koren?”

                “In the flesh.” Koren spread his arms wide, “Missed you too spy-boy. What’s it been, ten? Fifteen years?”

                “A friend of yours?” Senya asked.

                “An ex.” Theron replied. “What are you doing here Kor?”

                “Working.” He grinned, “You don’t need to sound so upset at seeing me. I’m not here to cause trouble.”

                Theron scoffed, “If I thought you were I would’ve left as soon as I recognized you.” He looked over at him, “The armor is new.”

                “Looks good don’t it?” Koren laughed, “I still wear that coat you got me, but I like this better when I’m working. I can crank my music and ignore everything else.”

                Theron nodded, a smile on his face, “I’m surprised it’s still in one piece.”

                “Hey, I take good care of my stuff.” Koren crossed his arms, feigning insult, “Especially if I care about it.”

                “Are you still using the same ship?” Theron asked flatly.

                Koren looked at him surprised, his grin turning sly, “Oh, why do you ask?” He paused, his smile dropping, “Wait, that’s rude.” Theron grinned, “It’s in peak condition, I promise you.”

                “Uh huh.” Theron shook his head.

                “It is.”

                “I’ll have to take your word for it.” Theron laughed.

                “I could show you if you’re that curious.” Koren moved over, putting his arm around the other man, “Y’know, for old times’ sake.”

                Theron shook his head. “I’ll have to pass.”

                Koren shrugged, releasing him, and bumping his hip with his own, causing the spy to stumble slightly. Trey glanced back at them, and Shey rose an eyebrow in question. Koren grinned at them before turning his attention back to Theron.

                “Found anyone while I’ve been away?” He asked, “Or still married to your work?”

                “The Commander.” Theron replied, giving him a proud smile, “We’ve been together for a while now.

                “Oh, now that’s a good one. Is she nice? I’ve only heard about her, but I don’t think I’ve ever met her.”

                “Honestly? She’s amazing.  She seems to attract far too much trouble, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

                Koren gave him a sad smile, “Sounds like you really love her.”

                Theron nodded, “I do.” He looked over at Koren, slapping him on the back, “What about you? You’ve never been one to sit on your hands when it comes to relationships. Anyone special?”

                Koren laughed, slinging his arm around the spy once more. He nodded toward Trey, “He’s the only one I’ve been trying for. No luck so far though.”

                “He’s managing to resist your charm?” Theron gave him a look of mock surprise.

                “Oh leave me alone. I can’t win everyone over with a wink and a drink.” Koren laughed, “He’s been so preoccupied with a lot of other things. He’s been trying to find his sister for a while, and he recently lost his wife. I’m not going to push him until he’s ready. I’m not that bad.” He paused, “Though if he asks for a little _one on one_ time, I doubt I’d say no.”

                “Wait? His sister?“ Theron started to ask as they walked into the tent where Kara was speaking with Mikael. Arcann standing close by, just in case.

                “Lana! Theron!” She beamed at them, “I’m glad you both made it through alright.”

                “Same to you Commander, any injuries on your end?” Lana gave Kara a once over as she spoke, checking her for injuries.

                “Aside from the troops here and Nora taking a bad hit, the only casualty we had was Arcann’s tunic.” Kara glanced at him.

                They looked at him as he huffed in annoyance, “Lucky shot from one of the Imperials.”

                Kara laughed, “How bout your team? Anyone hurt?”

                Lana shook her head, “Some minor wounds that have already been patched up. We did pick up some help on the way.” She gestured to Trey. “This is my agent, Cresh. He gave us a hand with the fight.”

                Trey froze, he wasn’t expecting to see Kara here. She clearly didn’t recognize him as she pushed off from the desk and went to greet him. But he didn’t know if she would be able to figure out who he was when he spoke, or if she could feel him through the force.

                “I’m Kara Hawke, commander of the Alliance.” She stuck out her hand.

                He took it, shaking it carefully. He could feel his anger bubble up as she spoke, but he forced it down, “Cresh. As Lana stated, I work as one of her agents.” He gestured behind him. “And this is my current team.”

                “Shey Shen.” Shey introduced, nodding respectfully at Kara. “Champion of the Great Hunt. I believe we’ve met previously.”

                “It’s a pleasure. And it’s good to see you again Shey, Koro is at our base right now with our kids if you’d like to visit when we’re done here. And I’m sure Torian would be glad to see you as well.”

                “That would be a great idea.” She smiled at the smuggler, “I haven’t seen either of them in ages.”

                Koren saluted with his free hand, still leaning on Theron, “Koren Gates at your service. Merc, and fellow Champion.” He grinned, “Theron was just telling me about you.”

                Kara raised an eyebrow at him, “You seem familiar. Weren’t you one of the bounty hunters that Skavak hired?”

                “I knew your name sounded familiar.” Koren grinned, “Glad I backed off on that bounty.”

                “As am I, and you know Theron I take it?”

                 Theron nodded, “It’s a long story.” She seemed to accept that for the time being.

                A soldier rushed in while they were talking shouting reports to the Major.

                “Looks like the Imps are still on the run. We’ll have time for a breather, but I’m not sure for how long.” He sighed, removing his helmet and running his hand through his hair. “Hopefully both Nora and Lyra will be back on their feet by the time they regroup.”

                “Were they badly wounded?” Senya asked.

                Mikael shook his head, “Aside from a few bruises and possibly some cracked ribs. But they did push themselves so I made sure they got some rest.” He paused, breathing heavily. “I’m going to go check on them. Thank you for the assistance, and please make yourselves at home.”

                They nodded, Kara speaking up, “I’d like to visit her if I can.”

                Mikael nodded, “Of course, she’s been worried for you since you disappeared. I’m sure you have a lot to talk about.”

                Trey fidgeted for a second, picking at his sleeves before speaking, “I’ll go with, I’d like to talk to the other force users while I’m here.” He paused, “With your permission of course, Major.”

                “Of course.” Mikael gestured for the two of them to follow him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies on the delay, I've been in and out of the hospital for the past two weeks while my grampa was getting hip surgery and recovering from it. But now he's home and I can work on this again! As always, reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!!


	17. Chapter 17

                Nora sighed, stretching her arms and picking at the bacta patches that clung to her skin. She wasn’t that badly wounded, but she knew how worried her husband had been for her so she didn’t talk him down from treating her wounds as much as she likely should’ve. A groan nearby brought her attention to another cot. Lyra shifted, sitting up and wincing, her hand going to her side as she looked around the tent.

                “Relax Hun, we’re back at camp.” Nora pushed herself up, and went over to her bed, “Rest, the fight’s over for now.”

                “Did we win?” Lyra asked. Nora nodded, “Good. That’ll teach them for trying to catch us by surprise.”

                Nora laughed, “So says the Jedi.” Earning a grin from her daughter.

                Lyra tried getting up, but Nora stopped her. “It’s alright mom, I’m alright. I’m the battlemaster of the Jedi,” Lyra huffed, “If I can’t take a few hits what good am I?”

                Nora sighed, “At least wait until your father checks your wounds.”

                Rolling her eyes, Lyra nodded, mouthing ‘Fine’ at her.

                Within moments the entrance to the tent opened, and Mikael stepped in. He saw Nora at Lyra’s cot, and Lyra already half up. He shook his head at them. “Do I have to tie you two down to get you to take a break?”

                Nora smiled at him, getting up and going to him. He pulled her into a hug, being careful not to squeeze her too much.

                Kara quietly cleared her throat and smiled at her sister. “It’s good to see you back on your feet.”

                Nora released her husband and went over to hug Kara. “I still can’t believe you’re actually alive. I thought I was hallucinating.”

                Mikael left them to talk and headed over to check Lyra’s wounds.

                “Did you really think I was that easy to kill?” Kara grinned. “It’s not like that was the first time I was in carbonite either.”

                “You were in carbonite?! What happened to you?” Nora gripped her hands tight.

                “That’s… a long story. I’m more interested in what happened to you. When Lana saved me she said you were missing. Where have you been?”

                Nora shook her head. “Around. I went back to Korriban to help them repair, as well as Tython. Ran into some familiar faces and eventually ended up joining Mik again about a year ago.”

                “Is that why you stopped all contact?” Trey asked as he stood by Kara’s side.

                Nora’s eyebrow went up in question as she answered him, “No. I had to drop off the radar after the Eternal Empire attacked. There was a power struggle with the loss of Darth Marr, and I wanted no part of it. So the best way to avoid anything that may have come back to hurt my family, was to just disappear.” She nodded toward him, “I take it you caught some of that backlash?”

                Trey shook his head. “No, only heard about it.” He paused, debating on what he wanted to do. He wasn’t sure if he should reveal who he was, or if they already knew. Had already sensed who he was. Nora was his twin, and though he loathed to admit it, she was much stronger in the force than he was. And Kara was also a powerful force user, even if she avoided using her talents. So he doubted he could keep his identity secret for long. Not that he even wanted to.

                Sure he had wanted to avoid Kara from finding out who he was, he didn’t know if he’d be able to keep himself from lashing out at her. His heart still hurt from the loss of Vette, and everytime he saw her he had to hold himself back from snapping at her. He had to remind himself that she likely wasn’t at fault. That there wasn’t anything she could’ve done to save his wife. But a small part of him kept the thought alive, what if there was something she could’ve done, but she chose not to. But he kept that at bay for now. Instead he turned his attention back to whether or not he should reveal who he was.

                He was sure that they would figure it out eventually. Would they be angry with him for hiding? Or would they understand his concerns. Understand that the mask and the coat made him feel safe, made him feel stable, like he was in complete control. Let him feel like he didn’t lose the best part of himself to a stupid war. He wasn’t Trey, he wasn’t the pirate turned sith, he wasn’t that kid that lost his family only to get part of it back and then some. And that he didn’t lose it all over again because of some prince and princess who thought they could walk all over the galaxy and take what they wanted.  
                Kara wasn’t at fault for that. Neither was Nora or Mikael. Even Arcann was trying to get past the mistakes he made, to fix what he destroyed. So why was he having such a hard time just admitting he made a mistake, that he felt terrible about nearly killing the commander, that he regretted leaving Vette’s side.

                It wasn’t Kara’s fault, if he had just been there at Vette’s side, instead of lurking around the galaxy like some criminal, like what he was before finding his family again. If he had just been brave enough to face the Eternal Empire like Vette had been, she would still be there at his side.

                The girls had been talking while he was lost in thought, giving the man time, though they shot him questioning glances every so often.

                “I’m sorry.” He said suddenly, catching them off guard and pulling them from their conversation. Kara telling his sister everything that had happened since she had been taken captive from what he could tell.

                “For what Cresh?” Kara asked, she was clearly concerned, and though he still was angry at her, he was touched that she would worry for him.

                “For disappearing. For not helping like you did.” He paused, picking at his mask, “Like she did.”

                Nora cocked an eyebrow, “Why would you apologize?”

                “Because. If I.” He stopped, then started again. “If I had just stayed, maybe things would’ve ended different.”

                He took off his mask, flipping back his hood. The dim lighting of the medical tent seemed bright without the filters of the mask. He directed his attention to Kara, “If I had just accepted that what had happened wasn’t your fault, I wouldn’t’ve hurt you.” Trey looked down at his feet. This wasn’t how he had planned to apologize to her. Hell he didn’t even want to apologize, he still felt she deserved it, but just not to the extent that he had gone. He almost killed her because of his grief, he lost control, something that Nora had told him he needed to work on years ago.

                Kara’s eyes widened. “Trey?” She had an inkling that Cresh had been him. He had a similar feeling to him, but she had dismissed it since he was sith and they had just been in a battle. “How?” She put her hand on her left shoulder, gripping the black shirt and brown vest she now favored since her breastplate was broken. “How did you find us?”

                He shrugged, avoiding eye contact. “I had a dream. Nora was in trouble and I came to check it out.” He rubbed his thumb on his mask, distracting himself as he spoke. “I didn’t plan this, if that’s what you’re wondering.”

                Nora glanced between the two of them. “What happened?” She asked.

                Trey looked at her, his almost golden eyes meeting her grey ones for a moment before he look looked toward Kara. “That’s a long story.” He repeated, gesturing for them to sit down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey hey! I'm back and updating! Broke free of that horrible thing called writer's block and I also have time to sit down and write again!  
> Also Trey has feelings, mostly guilt atm, but feelings none the less.  
> Hope you all enjoyed!


	18. Chapter 18

                “You tried to kill her??” Nora growled out.  Trey wouldn’t meet his sister’s glare.

                Kara spoke up, “It’s not that big of a deal. He stopped before he went too far.” She reached over to pat him on the shoulder, her hand hovered above the shoulderpad of his coat a moment, as she debated if this would be a bad idea. Deciding that it didn’t matter she brought her hand down, patting him carefully. “Everything’s healed up now.”

                “Except your leg.” Mikael pointed out. Trey shot him a look, but kept quiet.

                “It still works, and that’s what’s important.” Kara waved off anything else they were going to say. “I don’t blame him. I understand. I’m just glad he came around.”

                “I still blame you.” He said. He paused, taking a heavy breath, “but it’s not your fault exclusively, something that I’ve come to realize.” He looked at her with narrowed eyes. He was still sith, even if he left that life behind, “Besides, Vette would be disappointed in me if I ended up killing you, and the last thing I’d want to do is that. Even if she’s dead, she’s still here.” He gripped his coat.

                “She’s one with the Force, and will always be with you.” Nora said, her voice softening. “She also would want you to move on. Don’t hang on to her.”

                Trey sighed, “I know. Sis. You don’t have to tell me.” He nodded toward the door, “It’s part of the reason I’m traveling with the two hunters.” He gave her a small smile, “You’d like them.”

                “Shey was married to my brother for a while.” Kara grinned, “And she’s married to Torian now, they’re both with the Alliance.”

                “She may leave the team to join them then.” He gave her that one, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she did.”

                “You’re welcome to join as well Trey.” She turned to Nora and Mikael, “You all as well. We could use your help repairing and trying to regain some semblance of peace again.”

                “I’ll speak to my men about it, but I wouldn’t be against it.” The soldier nodded, glancing at his wife, “Especially if Nora joins you as well.”

                Nora smiled up at him, taking his hand in hers, “I’d love to help, and to visit everyone again. It’s been a long time since I saw Master Strider again.”

                “I’m sure he misses you, you were the better Padawan.” Kara grinned. “My brother, and sons are there as well. I don’t know if you’ve seen them, but they’re so big now.”

                Nora laughed, “I look forward to seeing them, I’m sure they don’t even remember me.”

                “Only one way to find out.” Kara stood up, heading out of the tent, Trey and Norafollowed after her, Mikael and Lyra close behind. “But first I want to make sure your people are safe.”

                Mikael nodded, “I appreciate it, Commander. We’ve been here for a few weeks, and it’s been quiet. To have this much activity so quickly is concerning.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short, like really short, but it felt like it was too awkward to put with the last bit and it doesn't fit with the next either, so it got it's own. There'll be a longer chapter in a few days, promise!!


	19. Chapter 19

                It had been a week before Kara decided to head back to Odessen. It had been a busy  week, the Imps had made two more pushes to take the camp, but had finally dropped back and hadn’t return in days. Scouts were sent out to check their camp for fortifications, but instead found the camp had been broken down and the enemy was gone. Mikael had his squad stand guard for a few days, expecting a new form of attack, but when nothing happened he called them back, taking volunteers to go with him back to Odessen with the Commander.

                Havoc Squad was the first to leave, with Koren leaving soon after, taking Lana and Theron with him as well as his own team and the imperial soldier they had rescued. Trey hadn’t entirely wanted to go back to the base of the Eternal Alliance, but his sister was going, as was his friends, so he grumbled but tagged along in the end. Mikael and Kara left last, each taking their own ships. Mikael had left a majority of his team behind on Alderaan to hold their position until they received new orders, while a small squad accompanied him, Nora, and Lyra back to Odessen.

                Kara sighed as she settled in the pilot’s seat in her ship. She prepped for take-off, glancing over her shoulder as the door whooshed open, Arcann stepping into the room. She smiled at him, gesturing for him to sit in the copilot seat. “Everyone settled?”

                He nodded, “Bowdaar was raiding the kitchen last I saw him, and Mother is using your room, reading some of the Jedi texts you had in there.” He took his seat, assisting how he could.

                She tsked, “And here I thought I hid those where no one could find them.” She chuckled.

                “They were on your shelf.” He replied flatly.

                “It was a joke.” She glanced at him before returning her attention to the various monitors on the dashboard, flipping various switched and pushing buttons as she warmed the engine. Arcann watched her as she worked with practiced ease, a certain grace to it that she had achieved from years of using the ship. “Something on my face?” When he raised an eyebrow in question she clarified, “You were staring. Is everything alright? I know, you would’ve rather have gone back with Lana wouldn’t you.”

                “Why would I go with her?” He turned his attention to the view out the window as the ship lifted off the ground and headed out of atmo. “It’s not.” He paused, “I’m not uncomfortable if that’s what you are concerned about. I’m more concerned with you feeling unsafe around me.”

                She glanced at him as she punched in the coordinates and put the ship into hyperspace, then she stretched and rotated her chair back and forth before standing up, “This isn’t the first time we’ve been alone together. Besides, I’ve never felt unsafe around you.”

                He huffed, “You don’t need to lie to me. With our history, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

                She went over to stand next to him. “Are you saying you don’t feel safe being alone with me?” She tried to keep the pain out of her voice.

                “No! That’s not.” He turned to look up at her, “I tried to kill you, multiple times, and you still have welcomed me the same as anyone else, and still let me stay even after you stopped Vaylin.”

                “Do you want to leave?” Kara crossed her arms. She didn’t want to keep him there if he didn’t want to stay, she figured he wanted to be there, but if he didn’t…

                He shook his head, “No. I’d like to stay as long as I’m able. But I don’t want to cause you more trouble on top of everything else I’d done.”

                “You haven’t caused trouble since you’ve joined us.”

                “Kara.” He huffed in annoyance, standing to stare down at her. “You have every reason to distrust me. And yet you’ve done nothing but accept me in as if I was there from the beginning.” His use of her first name caught her off guard, and she hadn’t registered that he had stood up until he had continued speaking. “I’m grateful of everything you’ve done to help both my mother and myself, but I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“You’ve shown yourself capable, and you haven’t done anything to harm us. I mean, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you against Valkorian or after losing my leg.” She replied, “Why would I make you leave?” She shook her head, “Arcann, I.” She paused, looking away, “I just want you to be happy. I care about you.”

“My happiness shouldn’t matter as much as-“ He stopped, his eyes widening as he registered what she had said. He first thought she had been messing with him, teasing him like she would do with so many others, but the blush covering her face made him think otherwise. “You do? After everything, you would?”

She looked up at him again, “It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise.” She laughed awkwardly, glancing away again. She was nervous, this wasn’t what she had planned, the words had just slipped out, she hadn’t meant to tell him yet. And now she probably looked like she was about to either run or cry, she wasn’t used to the fear of being rejected, hell she wasn’t used to being the one to confess her feelings to begin with. But Theron had told her that she should say something, had assured her that he would be willing to give him a chance as well.

“But what about Theron?” He stepped back, putting some distance between them as he put his thoughts in order. “Aren’t you two still together?”

Kara looked at him sadly, taking his retreat as his sign of rejection. “Yes, and he knows.” She let out another awkward laugh as she sat back down in her seat. “Honestly, he’s the one who told me that I should tell you.” When he looked at her in confusion, “He said that I shouldn’t keep how I feel hidden from you. And that he would be alright with it being the three of us.” She scratched her head, “I mean if you’re alright with it too.”

He raised his eyebrow, she was fidgeting a lot more than he’d ever seen her. She’s always acted differently around him than Lana or Senya, but he never considered that it could’ve been because she cared for him. “I had no idea.” He mumbled. He clasped his hands behind his back and paced the cockpit in thought.

Kara watched him pace, she was beyond nervous and everything was telling her to run, to pass it off as a joke, to not completely ruin the friendship that they had built. She swallowed, the cockpit much too cramped for her at the moment. “You don’t need to give me an answer right away, if you want to think about it first. I know it’s out of the blue.”

He stopped, looking at her. She wasn’t uncomfortable before when he had first walked in, but now she was obviously ready to leave. He nodded, “If that would be alright with you. I’d like that.”

Kara nodded, giving him a half smile, “Then let me know when you get a chance.” She stood up, “I’m… uh… Going to go see what Bowdaar is up to, make sure he didn’t eat all our food y’know.” She stood there for a moment before nodding again and retreating through the door and leaving him to his thoughts.

He sat down, putting his head in his hands and sighing heavily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then she made the accidental confession.  
> I'm planning on using a bit of the dialog from the romance start cutscene for arcann here and again in a future chapter. Also I will be going into Iokath in a few chapters, been putting it off until the 5.9 patch hits, and with that on horizon I figured now is a good time to at least start writing it. It won't be 100% the same for obvious reasons, but I'm trying to stick to at least some bits of in game canon where I can. even if I'm still not huge on how the whole Iokath/Umbara/Copero patches have gone down.  
> Hope you all enjoyed!


	20. Chapter 20

The rest of the flight to Odessen was uneventful. Kara avoided Arcann as best she could, but his insistence to help wherever he could often forced them to be alone in the cockpit together. About an hour into the trip the door opened, Senya entering the room instead of her son. Kara sighed in relief.

Senya glanced at her, taking a seat before speaking up. “Did something happen between you and Arcann?”

Kara glanced at her, before returning her attention back to the dashboard, once again wishing she was somewhere else. “Something like that.”

“Anything I can help with?” Senya looked out the window as the stars streaked by faster than the eye could process as they hurtled through hyperspace. They still had an hour of the trip left.

“No.” Kara replied flatly. She sighed, “There’s nothing you can do short of rewinding time and stopping me before I said something stupid.”

“What did you say to him?” Senya asked. When Kara didn’t reply she changed the subject, “It was good to meet Nora. She’s a nice person. It surprised me that she is a sith, she’s nothing like Lana.”

Grateful for the change in topic, Kara nodded, “We grew up together, she was the closest thing I had to a sibling. The council had asked Dad to teach her when they had taken her in, likely figured that he’d have an easier time with her since we were around the same age, since they had their hands full cleaning up after the war.”

“So you were close?”

“Kind of? We were inseparable for years, I looked up to her. She was stronger and faster than I was, better at the Force.” Kara shrugged, “When she was sent to train under another Master I was lost for a time, I ran away a few years later, and ran into her again on Korriban when I was helping out the Captain I was working for at the time.”

“So you went from Strider to Hawke then?”

Kara nodded, “She hadn’t changed, even surrounded with so many Sith, she was still the same person I had known back when we were little.” She smiled, “She took me in, adopting me as her sister. Her family was a well known noble family back on Ziost, both her parents were powerful Sith. Carrying their name and connection to their only surviving child held a lot of weight in the Empire. It made a lot of work in Imperial space easier for my Captain, and his connections with the SIS made it easier for us in Republic space.”

“What happened?”

Kara looked at her, sighing, “We did well for years, preferred by many people on both sides. But in the end we got some unwanted attention.” She leaned back in her seat, “I was, 20? Was the right hand for the Captain, knew this ship inside and out.” She turned her seat back and forth, staring at the ceiling, “Pirates raided the ship, stole a bunch of the cargo and killed the crew. The Captain had me hide in the vents. I was the only one who survived.” She stopped, leaning forward and clasping her hands together in front of her. “I flew this ship solo for a couple years before I met Corso and Skavak on Ord Mantell, and then things just went from there.”

“I’m sorry.” Senya stood, approaching the smuggler and placing her hand on Kara’s shoulder in a comforting gesture.

“Nothing for you to apologize for. It’s a risk with our line of business.” She sighed, reached up and gripped Senya’s hand. “But thank you. For everything.”

“I’ve done nothing, Commander.”

“You’ve done a lot.” Kara looked at her, “You’ve been here since we started the Alliance, and we couldn’t’ve done it without you, so thank you.”

Senya nodded, “Thank you as well, Commander.”

Kara gave her a small smile. “Thanks for talking with me too, and not… pushing.”

Senya laughed, “I haven’t given up on getting an answer to my first question.” She paused, sitting again, “But I know you would speak with me if it was something I could help with.” She took her lightsaber from her belt, and removed a cloth from her pouch to clean the weapon, “Besides, love can be an awkward thing.”

Kara choked, staring at her in surprise. Senya didn’t speak again, opting to hum innocently as she cleaned. Shaking her head, Kara returned her attention back to the monitors of her ship, sending an approach alert to their base on Odessen, the pair falling into a comfortable silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another shorter chapter. I mean I know they're usually kinda short anyway, but it's something. Bit of a backstory on Kara and why she doesn't share a last name with either her father or mother (Blue Strider/Anya Reyes) as well as her relationship to Nora. I'd like to expand on that a bit sometime eventually, but this pretty much summarizes it well enough I think.  
> Also a chance to touch of how comfortable Kara is around Senya, since she does view her as something as a mother figure.


	21. Chapter 21

                Caleb huffed in annoyance at Theron as he followed the spy around. He had been pestering Theron for nearly an hour about everything to do with their trip to Alderaan. But had recently started shadowing the spy after they had received the approach signal from Kara, letting them know they only had a short bit of time before the Commander finally landed and she could take over once more. The other son, Connor, was nowhere to be seen, the blonde having warmed up to Koren almost immediately. The last Theron had seen of him, Connor had been wandering around after the merc wearing his helmet and chattering on about some story that he had read about.

                “When does mom get back” Caleb finally asked for the eighth time.

                “Soon. She just sent the alert, so… 10 minutes?” Theron replied, handing the boy a datapad.

                Caleb looked at the pad, scrolling through the information and scrunching up his nose before running it over to give to Lana. “I’m going to get Connor then, we’ll meet her at her landing pad.”

                Theron nodded as he ran off.

                Caleb charged down the hall, nimbly weaving his way through the crowded halls to the smuggler’s bay. The various mercenaries and smugglers gave him little attention, already used to the kid running through to speak to Hylo or tagging along behind Koro when he came to play sabaac.

                Koren was lounging on one of the couches they had scattered around the large room, while Connor sat on a box, listening to the merc tell him a story. Trey was seated next to him, he had removed his coat and armor, opting to wear a lighter shirt with a small shoulderpad instead.

                Trey chuckled as Koren told the pair of blondes the story of how he had been hired to take out the previous Chancellor. Caleb wasn’t able to hear much until he got closer, catching the tail end of the story.

                “The Chancellor made it out safe, and the Sith didn’t. AND I still got paid.” Koren grinned proudly as Connor excitedly started asking him a million questions.

                Trey put his hand on Connor’s head, ruffling his hair before speaking up, “Impressive. A Sith Lord is a hard target to take out.” He nodded, smiling slightly in approval, “Takes a lot of guts to stand up for your crew like that.”

                Koren’s grin spread further as he leaned back and stretched, “Well, what can I say? I’m the best.”

                Connor grabbed Koren’s helmet, putting it on his head and glanced over at his brother as he approached. “Cal! You missed Kor’s story!”

                Trey snickered at the boy using the nickname, “Looks like he’s already picked that one up from your spyboy.” The comment earning a half-hearted glare from the merc.

                “You’ll have to tell me about it later.” Caleb stood by the crates his brother was sitting on, shifting his weight from foot to foot anxiously, “Dad said Mom’ll be here soon. I was going to-“

                Connor jumped off the crates, the helmet shaking from the movement. “Mom’s back?!” He turned to look at Trey and Koren and back at his brother and then back to the pair debating on if he should go.

                Koren did a shooing motion at him. “Go on, I’m sure you’re mother would love to see you two waiting for her.” Trey nodding in agreement.

                Turning his attention back to his brother, Connor nodded and bolted out of the bay, Caleb following a moment after. The pair ran down the halls, and made a beeline for the Commander’s landing pad. Lana was already there waiting for them. When she saw the boys come running down the bridge she gave them a smile before turning her attention to a datapad in her hand. They stood next to her, nervous energy coming off of them in waves. Lana chuckled, but didn’t speak, leaving the brothers to talk amongst themselves.

                The datapad pinged, and the Sith glanced up into the air, spotting the freighter as it came in for a landing.

                “See? Right on time.” Theron said as he walked up to the kids, giving Lana a nod, and leaning on the handrails. “Was Kor alright with you taking his helmet?”

                Connor nodded, “He said I can use it all day.” He pushed up the piece of armor, grinning proudly at Theron, the sound of music quietly being emitted from the helmet.

                The ship landed in the grass with a soft thud, hissing as it depressurized and the ramp extended.

                “She landed the ship herself this time, that’s a good sign.” Lana observed, the comment earning a glare from Theron, and a sad look from the boys. “Ah. My apologies, I didn’t mean to say that out loud.”

                Theron just shook his head and turned his attention back to the ship. He didn’t blame her, having had a similar thought as he saw the ship fly in.

                After a few moments the door opened and Arcann strode out, making his way quickly towards the base. He cleared the field in moments, having made it to the bridge by the time Kara, Bowdaar and Senya exited out of the ship. They greeted him as he approached, which he returned as he passed. Theron raised an eyebrow at his hasty exit.

                He turned his attention to Kara as she arrived at the bridge. “Well that was odd. I mean he’s not the most social, but he’s not usually so quick to make an exit. Did something happen?”

                Caleb and his brother rushed over to give their mother a hug. Excitedly welcoming her back home.

                Kara returned their greetings and hugging her boys close before answering her lover’s question. “Sort of?” She went to him, Theron meeting her halfway and hugging her tightly. Releasing her he gave her a quick kiss before letting her continue speaking. “I may have let how I feel about him slip while we were on our way back.”

                Theron rubbed the bridge of his nose, “And I take it he didn’t know how to respond so you gave him space.” When Kara nodded he sighed, “Well at least he has plenty of space to think it over.”

                They spoke between themselves for a while, Lana joining in as the conversation shifted to reports that had come in while they had been away. Connor glanced at his brother, tugging on his shirt to get his attention. Caleb glanced at him, raising at eyebrow. “What?”

                “Maybe we should go talk to him.” Connor said, quietly whispering so they wouldn’t interrupt the adult’s conversation.

                “Who? Arcann?” When Connor nodded, Caleb shook his head. “Why?”

                “He looked like he needed someone to talk to.” Connor shifted the helmet on his head absentmindedly as he talked.

                “You heard Dad say he wanted space. Do you really think you should be bothering him?” Caleb shook his head.

                “But don’t you think it’d be better to talk about it? What if he leaves?”

                “I thought you were scared of him?” Caleb crossed his arms.

                “No!” Connor huffed in annoyance. “I mean, I am. But.” He paused, “We could help. Maybe. Give him a chance like Mom wants us to.”

                Caleb shook his head again, “I’m not going with you.” This earned a surprised look from his younger brother. “You want to talk to him, go ahead. But I’m not going.”

                “But.” Connor grabbed his hand, gripping it.

                “I’m staying here with Mom and Dad.” Caleb stared him down, “You can go alone if you really wanna go.” When Connor released his hand and looked away, his face filled with disappointment, Caleb felt bad, he knew how important it was to his brother, the younger boy adored their mother. Both of them did, honestly. Kara’s disappearance had hit them both hard, but where Caleb had been nearly four when she had been taken from them, and had some great memories of traveling space with her, Koro, and the crew, Connor didn’t. Connor had been barely over two years old, and could hardly remember what their mother had looked like without the holo that Theron had kept of her.

                Caleb was grateful to their Dad, to Theron, for raising them alongside their uncle. But it didn’t felt the same until their mother had returned. He still remembered Theron calling them over the holo almost two years ago, telling them that he had a surprise for them. He still remembered Connor starting to cry almost instantly when they saw their mother’s face again after all those years she had been gone. He still remembered Connor saying how much he hated Arcann for taking their mother from them, and how much he wished they could’ve been on Odessen helping instead of on Coruscant with their uncle. And now Connor was set on trying to connect to the person he had claimed to hate. Caleb wanted to tell him that he should go talk to him, that he would be there by his side when he did, the pair having been inseparable for years. But he couldn’t, not yet. He hadn’t told Connor that he had felt the same hatred, he hadn’t let his brother know how much he had missed their mother. He just comforted his brother, telling him to be patient, that they would be with her again soon, that they would be a family again.

                He was pulled from his thoughts as Koro came sprinting out of the base, catching his sister in his arms and spinning her dramatically. Caleb glanced over to where his brother had been standing, finding that Connor was gone.

                He was proud that his brother was starting to stand on his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The boyos are worried. And it's probably obvious that Connor is my fave out of the two (shhhhh).  
> Some little notes that I think might need to be said (?) the boys consider Theron to be their Dad since he was there for them while their mother was in carbonite, and they know Kara's in a relationship with him. They usually refer to the biological father as just father.  
> Caleb is very protective of his brother, since Connor doesn't like talking to people he doesn't know. Connor also isn't usually quick to open up to strangers, but since he idolizes Theron, so when he sees how chummy his dad is with Koren he immediately opens up. On that note, Caleb's hero is Jace Malcolm, though he doesn't know just yet that he's their grampa.  
> As always, kudos and comments are appreciated! I'd love to hear what you all think!!!


	22. Chapter 22

                He had just wanted to be alone. Something that seemed to be proving difficult for Arcann to do in the large base. He had made his way from the landing pad through to the war room and then up into the main base. The cantina was packed, as usual, so he avoided going in there not wanting to interrupt their fun. He frowned as he passed, already knowing that if he went into the cantina, it would fall silent. Even after having been in the Alliance for months, most of its members still had a hard time adjusting to him being on their side. He didn’t blame them, he still had miles to go before he could be anywhere near deserving of their forgiveness.

                Which brought his thoughts back to his conversation with Kara. When they had been in the cockpit of her ship, that had been the first time they had truly been alone together. Usually there was always someone else there, Theron most often, either in the background when they spoke one on one, or actively a part of their conversation. She had seemed nervous when they had talked, but not afraid, just uncomfortable. Like there had been something on her mind she was trying to keep from talking about.

                Arcann paused as he walked down the hall, glancing back over his shoulder to look the way he had come. He could sense someone there, they were trying to hide their presence from him, but he could tell they were following him. His first thought was that it might be someone trying to assassinate him, he knew there was a good number of people on Odessen who would sell him off to the lowest bidder if they got the chance, but the person tailing him didn’t feel like they were after him to hurt him. So he ignored them for now, continuing on his way.

                He eventually came out to a back balcony that overlooked the forests of the planet, the cool wind blowing gently like the balcony that overlooked the Gravestone. There were no people here, just him and the sprawling forests before him.

                And the person who was still following him.

                “I know you’re there.” He said, keeping his back to the door he had exited from.

                A metallic clang made him turn to look, as a small boy fell over after hitting his head on the doorway. The boy righted himself, sitting crosslegged on the floor, and pulled off the helmet that was clearly much too large for him. He looked up at Arcann, a slight blush on his features, whether it was from embarrassment from being found out, from falling, or from wearing the helmet, Arcann wasn’t sure. Either way, the boy’s golden eyes looked at him seriously before glancing back down sheepishly.

                “Connor?” Arcann asked, turning to face him, “Why were you following me?”

                Connor fidgeted with the helmet, glancing around. Arcann felt bad for the boy, the blonde was clearly uncomfortable being around him. So why had he followed him throughout the base? Connor glanced down the hall, squinting as he tried to find something, but gave up and turned his attention back to Arcann. He looked nervous, but he eventually spoke. “Are you alright?” He asked quietly.

                Arcann raised an eyebrow, confused. “Am I-? You followed me because you were worried about me?”

                Connor nodded, “You looked upset and left so quickly.” He was still speaking quietly so Arcann went over and sat down in front of him. Connor looked up at him for a moment, “Sorry. I shouldn’t’ve followed you. Cal said I shouldn’t bother you. But I didn’t think you should be alone.” He paused, looking down at the helmet in his lap, “I know I hate being alone.” Arcann gave him a small smile, letting the boy talk, “But I have my brother, he helps me. He’s stronger than me, and smarter. And he’s always been there for me. And I have Dad, and Uncle Koro. But you only have your mother and mine.” He was looking at him again. “So I thought I could talk with you, help you out like mom does.”

                Arcann chuckled quietly, earning a confused look from the boy. “I appreciate it. But I’m alright. I just needed to think about some things.”

                “About mom?”

                Arcann hummed at that, but couldn’t deny it. “Yes, that is one of the things.”

                “Do you love her?”

                Arcann looked at him in surprise, “What? No.” He scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know.” He sighed, “She said she cared about me on the ship. And I don’t know why.”

                “I don’t think she’s ever hated anyone. If that’s what you’re worried about.” A third voice brought the pair’s attention to Theron. He gave them an awkward smile and a half wave. “Well, maybe she hated Valkorian. But she never seemed more than extremely annoyed about him usually.” He walked over and sat down by Connor, patting him on the head.

                “How did you know where we were?” Connor asked.

                “Caleb told me you ran off on your own. He didn’t seem too worried, but it’s not like you to leave him for very long.” Theron gave him a grin. “He said that you were being brave.”

                Connor smiled, “I don’t want to be scared of anyone anymore.” He said quietly, glancing at Arcann quickly before glancing away. “And I shouldn’t rely on Cal all the time.”

                “Because you worry about him.” Arcann spoke up. “You know he isn’t as strong as he lets on.”

                Connor nodded, “He protects me when I’m scared, so I want to get stronger so I can protect him too.”

                “I understand.” Arcann sighed, looking out over the forests. “I was like that with my brother too when we were your age.”

                “Thexan, right? Senya told us a little about him.” Theron leaned back, putting his weight on his arms.

                Arcann nodded. “We were inseparable. We did everything together. And I trusted him more than anyone else.”

                “What happened to him?” Connor asked, but the look on Arcann’s face answered his question. “I’m sorry.”

                Arcann shook his head. “I made a mistake. And I regret it more than anything.”

                There was an awkward silence, none of them sure what to say. But eventually Connor spoke up.

                “Do you regret hurting Mom?” He looked at him intently, waiting for the answer.

                Arcann nodded, “Yes.” He couldn’t look at the boy, “She has every reason to hate me, and yet.”

                “Do you care about her?” Theron asked next. His face was serious, and Arcann couldn’t tell if he was daring him to say no.

                “I’m not sure. She has done nothing but show me kindness since the day we met. And I trust her completely, but.”

                Theron nodded, “It’s still too soon. I understand.” He looked up, “Did you know that Koren and I used to be together?”

                The change in subject brought the attention on to him. Connor speaking up first, a hint of excitement in his voice, “Really?”

                Theron nodded, grinning, “Yeah. Years ago, we met when I was on a job back when I was still with the SIS. We hit it off pretty well and were together for a couple years before work took us in opposite directions.” He chuckled, “I never told Kara about it, since I doubted they’d ever meet. Shows what I know right?” He paused. “The first thing she did when they got a chance to talk, the very first thing she asked him was if he had any embarrassing stories about me.”

                “Let me guess. He did.” Arcann gave him a slight smile.

                “Oh absolutely. And he told her everything. It was the worst.” Theron shook his head, “She told me they had met before, before Caleb had been born. He was one of the bounty hunters that was hired to kill her. I’m still not sure why he backed off, he never told me, but she just laughed about it, started chatting with him about Skavak and Rogun like they were old friends. And then there’s Trey. You saw what happened the first time they met, and yet they worked together comfortably on Alderann. ” Theron looked over at Arcann, “She has trusted you and Koren and Trey with the only people she cares about more than her own life, even after everything you all have done to her. To her, the past doesn’t matter, you should know that by now. She wasn’t messing with you, and she’s not one to take her feelings lightly.” Theron pushed himself up and walked over to lean on the railing of the balcony, “She’s been betrayed by people she’s loved, and lost the first one she had given her heart to. And yet she’s still been able to fall in love with me,” He glanced back at Connor and Arcann, “And you.”

                Connor looked over at Arcann, giving him a smile, as the scarred prince huffed in annoyance at the topic coming back around to what he was trying to avoid talking about. “I understand.” He finally said. “You want me to give it some serious thought.”

                “At the very least.”

                Arcann pushed himself up and stood next to Theron, leaning on the railing, Connor following after and mimicking the pair. After a few moments of silence he said, “Just give me some time.”

                Theron nodded, patting the other man on the back before picking up Connor, “As much as you need. Let me know if you want to talk some more.”

                Arcann looked at him, nodding, “I will.”

                “Me too. We can talk more too.” Connor added in, “If you want.”

                “Thank you.” He said as he watched the pair leave, Connor waving at him enthusiastically as they went down the hall. He shook his head as soon as they were out of sight, alone with his thoughts once more. He decided he would talk more with Theron privately when he got the chance, but for the moment he just wanted to enjoy the peace of the balcony he had found, and the comfort that he had people who cared about him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Connor is my favorite out of Kara's boys and I really really want to be able to give him some development. I also really don't know if I'm writing him as a normal 8 year old, but I'm trying as best I can based on how I was at his age. So please cut me some slack if he's acting older than he should be. :)  
> As always, reviews are greatly appreciated, and I hope you all enjoy!


	23. Chapter 23

                Weeks had passed, and Arcann had made himself busy wherever he could, staying out of the way when it was busy, and generally lending a hand to anyone who was willing to accept his help. In the end, he usually assisted Hylo and her crew or worked by himself in the armory. After Lana, Theron, and Kara had gone to Iokath to check out a tip the Alliance had received, Arcann had unfortunately found himself with little to do.

                Which brought him to the armory, at his favored worktable in the back, modifying a chestplate he had been building for some time now. He had scraps of leather and metal and tools scattered across the table, with a golden chestpiece propped up on a stand. Next to it was Kara’s chestplate that had been badly damaged from her fight with Trey. Since she had opted to use new armor since the fight, Arcann had asked Theron to lend it to him for a time. The spy had seemed confused, but after they had had a private talk, mostly about their conversation with Connor, he had snuck it from the Commander’s quarters without question. Honestly Arcann wouldn’t be surprised if Theron knew why he had wanted it.

                Making Kara a new chestplate hadn’t been the plan, but since joining the Alliance whenever he had tried to stay out of the way, or tried to work off some stress he had started to make the armor piece. That her favored armor had been damaged so close to him finishing his project was lucky, and so he had been working on it whenever he had the time, especially since they had returned from Alderaan. When he was working he had time to think, about what Kara had said to him, and Connor, and Theron. About how so many of the Alliance still would give him distrusting looks when he would pass, but the Commander would always greet him with a smile. How that trust that she showed to him, even after everything that he had done, had made him feel.

                He hummed as he worked, checking measurements of her old chestpiece and comparing them to the new one he was working on, making notes of what needed to be modified. He was so engrossed in his work that he hadn’t realized that he was no longer alone in the armory until a voice spoke up.

                “I didn’t know you sang.” Trey chuckled, leaning in to inspect what Arcann was working on, “Or that you knew how to make armor.”

                Arcann whipped his head around to look at the Sith as Trey picked up the damaged chestplate. The same one he had damaged a little over a month prior. Arcann did his best to hide his surprise as he spoke, “How long have you been here?”

                “About two songs ago.” He picked at a loose piece on the black armor, making a guilty face as the piece popped off and clattered on the table, “Sorry. Didn’t think it would fall off like that.” He put the chestplate down carefully. “Didn’t want to interrupt since you were so focused. It’s a nice change, getting away from Koren for a bit. You’re also a good singer, I feel I need to tip you or something.” He smirked at him before nodding at the armor. “How’d you steal that from the Commander?”

                Arcann narrowed his eyes, picking his words carefully. Trey hadn’t been one to speak to him openly, in fact this was likely the most they had said to each other since the Sith had come to Odessen. “I didn’t steal it. Theron lent it to me.”

                Trey nodded, walking away from the table to inspect some tools on the wall. He didn’t say anything, so Arcann turned his attention back to his work, continuing where he had left off, and leaving Trey to himself. After a while the blonde sat on a nearby empty table, watching as the prince worked. He remained silent for the most part, but would chuckle to himself every so often when Arcann would double check a welding or remeasure a piece.

                After the third bit of laughter from behind him, Arcann finally put the tools he had been holding down and turned his attention to the other man. “What?” He asked, his voice full of annoyance.

                Trey was watching him intently, golden eyes measuring him up. “You’re very careful about this.” He pushed off of the table, returning to stand next to Arcann before continuing. “So I guess the question is, why are you making armor for the commander?” He glanced over as he spoke, raising an eyebrow.

                “The answer isn’t obvious?” Arcann gestured to the broken chestplate, “After the damage _you_ did when you tried to kill her, she needed something new.” He huffed in annoyance before returning his attention to his work.

                Trey waved his hand dismissively, lifting some of the tools off of the table with the Force, including one that Arcann had been reaching for. “That’s not what I meant. I’m not blind, and I haven’t forgotten what I did. I meant why are you, in particular, making it.” He gestured, and moved the tools back to their previous locations, “She’s made no effort to get a replacement, and by how you two have been avoiding each other since I’ve arrived, I’m sure she didn’t ask you to do this. So…” He cocked his head to the side as he leaned on the table, “Why?”

                “I don’t need to explain myself to you.” Arcann grumbled as he went back to work.

                Trey nodded, smiling, “You’re worried about her.” Arcann whipped his head around to look at the Sith again, his eyes wide for a split second before his face returned to a more neutral expression. Trey’s smile spread at the reaction. _Bingo_. “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about.” He patted the former emperor on the shoulder, “I was the same way with my sister. You know she would get herself hurt over the most ridiculous things, it took everything for Pierce and myself to get her to finally agree to wearing heavier armor.” He shook his head, chuckling, “It clearly didn’t last, considering what she was wearing on Alderaan.” He looked off to the side, the smile fainter, but still there. “I’ve already pushed for her to wear something more armored, and at least I have her husband on my side this time. He’s a surprisingly understanding man for a pub. I don’t approve of their relationship, but they’ve been together for twenty years or so, so I can’t really judge them.” He turned his attention back to Arcann, “You met them right? And their daughter is a sweetheart, not like the Jedi I usually run into. She was telling me about her husband, he’s a doctor or something and-“

                Arcann cut him off. “Is there a reason you’re telling me all this?”

                “You don’t like me do you?” Trey narrowed his eyes at Arcann.

                “We haven’t really spoken much before this.” Arcann eyed him suspiciously, “And we didn’t exactly get off on the best foot after what you did to Kara.”

                “Ooooo. Now there we go.” Trey smirked, “ _Kara_. You know, aside from her brother, Nora and Theron, nobody else calls her by her name, even in private or when she’s not around. It’s always Commander this and Commander that.” He shook his head, “But never just Kara.”

                “She is the commander, that’s normal for people to refer to her by her title, even without her around.”

                “So you were only ever referred to as ‘Emperor’? Never Arcann until you joined the Alliance?” Trey’s question sounded innocent, but it also set off warning bells.

                Arcann didn’t reply at first, being careful with what he said. Trey was up to something, “Not entirely.” He said, “My sister referred to me by name. As did much of the Alliance I assume.”

                Trey stared him down a moment, before sighing in mock defeat, “Alright, I get it.” When Arcann gave him a confused look, he shrugged, “I was just trying to get you to open up, get away and talk to someone I know I have something in common with.” Arcann didn’t respond, already dreading what they shared in common. “Connor has been pestering me all day, telling me how much he liked talking to you, that we might get along since he likes talking to me too. Though he’s really usually talking to Koren.”

                Arcann watched him as he started to ramble again, and when Trey made a face at him he finally replied, “Connor is what we have in common?” when Trey nodded, smirking at his uneasy response. Arcann shook his head and muttered, “I thought you were going to say ‘because we both tried to kill the commander.’”

                Trey barked a laugh, “True, that is something we share, but what I did and what you did aren’t the same.” Arcann shot him a look, but didn’t say anything as Trey continued, “You regret what you did to her. In fact you seem to be doing everything you can to help every person you’ve wronged. But I don’t regret it. Don’t give me that look, she’s the reason my wife is dead. I don’t care if she didn’t strike the killing blow, it’s still her fault.”

                “She did everything in her power to help Vette.” Arcann replied, he could feel his anger bubbling up and did his best to push it back. He wouldn’t blow up here, he was better than that now. “I was by her side, I know how much it hurt her to see Vette die right in front of her.”

                Trey gestured dismissively at him, “Excuses. And don’t try and change my mind. I won’t try and kill her again, I promise, but I still don’t like her, and won’t trust her to be alone with my sister or Koren, understand? I won’t lose another person I care about, I’ve lost enough.” He growled out.

                Arcann huffed in annoyance at him, “She would never do anything to hurt your sister. And don’t blame her for not being able to protect your wife. That’s not her job.”

                Trey glared at him, “Do not. Say. Another. Word.” His voice dripping with rage.

                Everything instinct in Arcann’s body screamed for him to shut up, to drop this conversation now, to back down. But the part of him that battled with how he felt about Kara couldn’t let this go. That part ending up winning out as he turned to face Trey fully and tried to make himself look more intimidating than he currently felt next to the Sith, “Kara did everything she could to help Vette, she cared about her and treated her as family. More than you did, leaving your own wife for years. If it’s anyone’s fault that she died it’s y-“

                Arcann was cut off in mid sentence as Trey’s fist connected with his face, sending him to the floor. “I told you. Not another word.” Trey sat on him, straddling his stomach as he pulled back and punched him again and again.

                Twisting free, Arcann rolled out from under him, barely dodging another hit, springing to his feet. He could taste blood in his mouth but didn’t have time to worry about what had been cut when Trey recovered and charged at him. He acted as quickly as he could, the rage obvious in the Sith’s eyes, but only managed to block a handful of blows before taking a heavy kick to the stomach that shoved him back a few steps. He had to admit, Trey was good, but he hadn’t really been trying. The thought that Trey wasn’t really trying either popped into his head, but he pushed it back as he finally fought back.

                He recovered from the kick quicker than Trey had expected, so when he charged in it caught the Sith off guard. He closed in on the blonde quickly, punching him in the stomach, and attempting to sweep his legs out from under him. He partially succeeded, the punch causing the Sith to stagger, and the sweep tripping him, but Trey reacted too quickly, rolling as he fell and sprung to his feet.

                “You’re going to have to do better than that lover-boy” Trey taunted.

                “L-lover-boy?” Arcann didn’t know what to make of the nickname.

                Trey chuckled, shifting his weight from foot to foot, and brought his arms up in a lazy ready stance, “You react too quick when it comes to Kara, tough guy. Are you two dating?” He teased.

                Arcann growled, shifting his weight, unsure on how he was supposed to react.

                “Is that it? Really? I came here looking for a fight, not to talk about who you’re banging.” Trey smirked, “Or are you worried I’ll talk?” Trey charged, swinging at Arcann.

                The prince blocked his attack, noting that it was slower than before, the fire having died out, “I thought you came here because of Connor.” He blocked another lazy attack.

                Trey shrugged as he swept his leg out, mimicking the move Arcann had pulled on him moments ago. “I had multiple reasons to come down here.”

                Arcann dodged the attack, then pushed back, swinging at the Sith, his fist made a solid connection with Trey’s jaw, and caused him to stumbled and shake his head. He spat blood out, grinning wildly, his lip was split. “That’s more like it lover-boy. You want to protect your girl right? Show me what you got.”

                Arcann growled as he charged at the Sith, catching Trey and shoving him to the ground. He went to punch him but a new voice made him stop.

                “Enough!” Senya pushed at the men with the Force, separating them. “What are you two doing?!”

                Trey huffed in annoyance, opting to remain silent as Arcann replied, “Mother, we were just talking.”

                “By hitting each other?” Senya crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at her son.

                “We were talking, but I picked a fight with him.” Trey put his hands up in a placating gesture, “Thought it would be interesting. I was wrong. Won’t do it again.”

                “Trey.” Senya turned her attention to the Sith, “Is now really the time to be picking a fight with your allies? Especially with our current situation?”

                Trey grumbled in reply, and shook his head. He couldn’t make eye contact with her, he felt like his mom had just caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. He hoped looking like he honestly regretted what he did would get him off the hook, and it seemed to have worked as she turned her attention back to Arcann.

                “What do you mean by that?” Arcann asked, his voice full of concern.

                “The commander’s unconscious. Something happened to her on Iokath, Lana won’t give me all the details over holo, but she sounded worried. I don’t think it’s good news.”

                Trey blinked in surprise, and Arcann practically radiated fear, “When did this happen?” he asked quickly.

                Senya thought for a moment, “Almost an hour ago. I’ve been so busy juggling reports that I didn’t get a chance to find you right away.” She paused, concern plain on her face, “I think her brother and sons should be told, but I’ve been waiting for more information before I say anything to them. I’m also unsure how to tell them, honestly.”

                Arcann nodded, “I can talk to them.” He said quietly. Connor was at least willing to talk to him, and he seemed the more skittish of the brothers so he was sure Caleb would be willing to at least hear him out.

                “I’ll go talk to Nora. And I’ll see if I can get Koren to check her out when they get back. He’s a fantastic medic, I’m sure he’ll be able to do something to help.” Trey pushed past Senya, giving them a slow wave as he left the room.

                Senya nodded, turning to face her son as he retreated back to his workbench, wiping blood from his face and focusing on finishing his project. “I’m sure she’ll be alright, Arcann.” She said, approaching him slowly and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “She’s strong.”

                Arcann nodded, “I know.” He focused on his work, as Senya left him to return to the war room and wait for Lana to contact her again.

                Alone again he let the fear wash over him, accidently bending the tool he held in his left hand. Slowly releasing it, he let it drop to the table and sighed heavily, shaking his head he retook the measurements and went on with his work, distracting himself at least for a short while, humming as he went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly I like writing fight scenes, there's just something exciting about them, but I always feel I make them too short. Also featuring a bit of Trey's personality that I don't think I captured before. He really likes to pick fights with people. (Also I never realized how similar he looks to Connor until recently. I'm slightly disappointed in myself.)  
> As always, any comments and reviews are appreciated!


	24. Chapter 24

                Koren was taking stock in his room. Checking the heat sinks and gas canisters on his blasters, kolto and bacta levels, the works. He moved fluidly throughout the room, going from shelf to shelf, and restocking what he usually brought with him onto the field. It was quiet, and nice, gave him time to think. He hadn’t had a chance to himself in a while, so he was taking advantage of it. It’s not that he didn’t like hanging around Trey, he honestly enjoyed his company, but sometimes he thought the Sith should try and make a few friends on the base so he could have others to talk to. So when Trey had gone off on his own, Koren had taken that as a chance to get some work done without getting distracted.

                He had thrown on a pair of light pants and was wearing an open leather jacket, the one he had gotten from Theron years ago, with his favorite bandana around his neck. He had opted to go without boots for the time being, the feeling of the cool floor on his bare feet felt nice as he wandered back and forth around the room comfortable after being in armor for so long.

                He had his music turned up from a portable speaker that sat on his bed, so when the door slammed open he nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise. He whirled around to see Trey glowering at him in the doorway before stalking into the room and dropping himself onto Koren’s bed in obvious annoyance. Koren closed the door before turning his attention to his friend and noticing the scattered wounds on his face.

                “What the hell happened to you?” Koren asked as he grabbed some kolto, bacta, cotton balls and cold packs. “You’ve only been gone an hour, and you come back all beat up.” He started tending to the Sith’s wounds without a second thought.

                “Went to talk to Arcann.” Trey huffed as he let the merc work. “Ended up fighting him.”

                Koren tsked, “You don’t need to fight everyone you talk to.” He took a cotton ball and soaked it in bacta. “This is going to sting a little.” He warned right before pressing the ball to Trey’s split lip.

                The Sith hissed in pain, closing his eyes, but otherwise remained where he was as Koren wiped down the cut on his mouth and one that was under his eye with bacta before going back to rub some kolto on them a moment after. “I didn’t plan on fighting him.” He paused as Koren put a small patch on a cut on his forehead, giving him a quiet ‘uh-huh’ in reply as if he didn’t believe him. Which was smart, Trey had gone down there fully intending to pick a fight. “He’s tough though, I’ll give him that. Took a good hit to the ribs, still hurts.”

                “Let me see.” Koren gestured for Trey to take off his shirt, already prepping a cold pack.

                “You just want to see me with my shirt off.” Trey teased, earning a glare from the merc.

                “Under any other circumstance I would find that funny, but I am working, I am a medic first, you can’t distract me from that and you know it.” Koren kneeled down, pulling at the Sith’s shirt. “Now let me make sure nothing’s broken.”

                Trey chuckled but complied, pulling his shirt up and tossing it to the side. He grinned at the split second look that flashed across Koren’s face before he had renewed his focus. He wasn’t entirely sure if the merc had reacted because of his attraction to him, or because he was scanning for any injuries that wasn’t the large bruise in the middle of his chest. Not that it mattered, Koren apparently wasn’t lying when he said he couldn’t be distracted. Trey sucked in a breath as he felt the cold pack touch his skin, and bit back a groan of pain as Koren pressed the pack on him.

                “Doesn’t look like they’re broken, just bruised. Hold this here.” Trey complied, putting pressure on the pack as Koren fetched some bandages to hold the pack in place for a while, “You’ll want to keep this on, and I know you won’t just sit and hold it there long enough. Give it about an hour or two before you take it off, and be careful not to do anything strenuous.” Koren moved Trey’s hand, taping the bandage and pack in place, making sure it was secure without being too tight.

                Trey watched him a moment, thinking as the man in front of him rambled on about some medical jargon he probably should listen to. Koren looked up at him, his face deadpan as the realization that the Sith had not been listening registered. The merc went to speak, but before he did, Trey leaned forward and kissed him hard. A muffled sound of surprise came from the merc, but he returned the kiss with the same amount of enthusiasm.

                When they broke away for air, Koren stuck out his tongue and made a face, “You taste like Kolto.”

                Trey chuckled, and kissed him again, “And you said I couldn’t distract you.” He teased earning a half-hearted glare from the merc.

                A cough to the side brought their attention to a newcomer, and the third of their current team, Shey. She sighed in annoyance, but otherwise didn’t seem bothered by their display. “If you two are done, we have ships incoming from Iokath.”

                “The commander?” Trey asked. When Shey nodded he stood, retrieved his shirt and left the room without another word.

                Koren and Shey watched as he left. “Sorry if I ruined the mood.” Shey said after a moment, “Senya asked me to get you in case she needs medical attention.”

                “Was she hurt?” Koren asked, standing and retrieving some supplies.

                Shey shrugged, “From what I hear, she was unconscious but I don’t know the details. Arcann came in to talk to Koro and the kids, and Senya gave only the bare minimum of information about what happened.” Shey shook her head. “Torian’s been pacing the war room since then, and I’ve never seen Koro so jumpy before. I know they’re both worried for her.”

                “She has a lot of people who care about her.” Koren said before he showed her a bag, “Ready for whatever. Wish we had more details so I could make sure I have what I need, but this should cover almost anything.”

                Shey nodded, and the hunters left, heading for the landing pads. They walked in silence for most of the trip, Koren only speaking up when they were almost there.

                “How are the boys?” He asked, glancing over at his partner.

                She shook her head. “They seemed scared. Connor clung onto Arcann in a flash, and Caleb went to stay with his brother. They’re in good hands between him and Koro.”

                Koren gave her a look of disbelief, “He did? Huh.” He paused a moment, glancing back they way they had come, “Damn, I should’ve grabbed my helmet.”

                “To give to Connor?”

                Koren nooded, sighed and continued down the hall, “It seems to help him when he’s nervous. I’ve been trying to make a headset for him so he can use it when I’m not around.”

                Shey chuckled, “You’ve really gotten attached to him, haven’t you.”

                He huffed in mock annoyance, “Have you seen the kid? Of course I have, he’s adorable. Y’know he calls me uncle now. You should’ve seen the look on Trey’s face when he did it too, it was priceless.”

                She smiled at him, “Almost makes you want your own huh?” Shey shook her head at the questioning look from her friend, “I’m just teasing.”

                “You and Torian thinking of having one?” Koren grinned at her, “I’m sure Kyri would love a sibling.”

                She sighed, “Been trying more like, so far no luck.”

                “I’d lend you my lucky jacket, but I don’t think I’d want it back after you’re done. And I really don’t want to lose this.” Koren teased, grabbing the collar of his jacket. Shey gave him a dirty look before the pair burst out laughing.

                They were still chuckling as they came out to the landing area, a small group of people already present, and a few ships scattered around. Lana stood with a group off to one side, and three people stood talking amongst themselves to the other. Koren raised an eyebrow as he recognized two of them, but didn’t approach them just yet.

                Lana strode over to meet them, nodding in greeting. “Good you could make it. The Commander was…” She paused, sighing and rubbing her temple with her hand. “She was electrocuted. She’s up and walking around now, but she was down for a while, Theron and I were worried.”

                “I’d be worried if you two weren’t.” Koren muttered, running through various treatments he could think of for electrocution.

                “How did it happen?” Shey asked.

                Lana shook her head. “Someone did it to her. We’re not sure who just yet, but we’re keeping our options open.” She sighed again, though it seemed more like she was stifling a yawn to Koren. “We’ve already started questioning people who were on planet with us. But we will include everyone in the Alliance. Including you two.”

                Shey nodded, “Understandable.”

                They started reviewing what had happened when a flash of white caught Koren’s eye. He turned to look, finding Arcann hovering by the door, the man clearly unsure whether or not he should join them. Excusing himself, Koren went over to talk to him.

                “Hey man.” Koren greeted with a wave, “She’s not here just-“ He stopped, “Stars, that is a nasty cut.”

                Arcann raised an eyebrow at him and reached up to touch his face where Koren was looking, “Is it that bad?”

                “Yeah. Let me see it.” Koren pulled out some bacta, and dabbed off the blood. “Doesn’t this hurt? It looks like it hurts.” He muttered as he worked, applying some kolto and taping some gauze to the wound. Arcann just stood there, not daring to move, and barely even made a sound. Koren chuckled at that, “Swear, you’re my best patient today. Everyone else has complained about the pain, but not you.”

                “You worked on other people who were injured?” Arcann asked.

                Koren glanced at him, “Oh, uh, yeah. A few.” He hadn’t expected him to respond, “I help out in the med bay when I can, and treated Trey a bit ago. Turn your head a little.” He took some kind of gel from his bag and smeared it across Arcann’s nose, “That should keep it from swelling more. Trey did this to you, huh?” He started turning Arcann’s head, and checked for any other injuries.

                Koren went to take off Arcann’s shirt, but the prince stopped him before he got more than a clip undone, “I’m fine.”

                Koren made a face at him, “Trey’s ribs were badly bruised, I’m just checking to make sure yours aren’t too.” When he tried again, Arcann let him, but refused to remove it fully. “Some bruising, but nothing major.” He dug a cold pack from his bag, activated it, and quickly tapped it in place. “Keep that on for an hour at least.” Arcann nodded, fixing his shirt as they heard another shuttle come in. It still wasn’t the commander’s so they didn’t hurry over just yet. “You shouldn’t wash your face for a few hours, let the kolto sit so you don’t get more scars. You can just toss the pack when you’re done with it, that one’s not reusable so I don’t need it back. And come find me tomorrow so I can check to make sure everything is healing properly, alright?”

                Arcann nodded, “Of course.”

                Koren grinned at him, “Finally someone listens to my instructions today.”

                “Has everyone else ignored you?”

                Koren shrugged, “They usually tune me out, I’m used to that. Getting screamed at by someone’s who was supposed to be unconscious was the most surprising thing to happen.” He grinned, “Next to Trey kissing me. That wasn’t a bad surprise though. Just unexpected.”

                Arcann raised an eyebrow in question, “Why is that surprising?”

                “Because it’s never happened before?” Koren cocked his head to the side, “Why?”

                “He seemed very defensive of you when we… spoke… earlier.” Arcann glanced over at Lana and the others as another ship came in, sending her a questioning look. Lana merely shrugged in reply, and kept talking to the people around her. “I thought you two were together.”

                Koren grinned, “He did? Didn’t think he actually cared about me that much.”  Arcann could feel how proud he was. “No we weren’t, aren’t. I don’t know what we are actually.”

                “You care about him.”

                “Haven’t tried to hide that.” Koren laughed, “So what’s with you trying to connect with everyone?”

                Arcann gave him a confused look, “I haven’t. I’ve mostly spoken with Connor and Theron recently. But no one else more than usual.”

                “Hm.” Koren replied, “Strange. Koro made it sound like you’ve been going around trying to make friends. Not that it’s a bad thing, there’s a lot of great people here. We’ve got a sabaac game planned tomorrow night. Koro invited me, said I could bring anyone I want. I was planning on bringing Trey and Torian. Would you want to come along?”

                Arcann thought about it for a moment, “I don’t know how to play.”

                “I can teach you tonight, give you the rundown of the rules and play a couple hands so you don’t get completely cleaned out. What do you say?”

                “Alright.” Arcann nodded, “It sounds interesting.”

                “I’m sure you’ll have fun.” Koren slapped him on the back.

                “Are you two planning a game night?” Anya asked.

                The sudden appearance of the woman caused the pair to jump in surprise. She smiled at their obvious shock before walking away to speak with Lana, not waiting from them to answer her.

                “I don’t like her.” Koren grumbled, “There’s just something about her that makes me feel uncomfortable.”

                Arcann nodded in agreement, as they watched her speak animatedly with Lana. It was only for a moment, but something about her just struck him as wrong. He couldn’t place it exactly, but he was starting to think Kara had been right about not wanting her mother to come to the base.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have the rare appearance from Anya. I promise there is a purpose behind her being in the story outside of 'kara and koro has a mom who's sith.' Also I didn't realize I never specified if Koren put his boots on before he left or not so it's safe to assume that he's just walking around the base barefoot. He may be a bit of a mess, but at least he's a very good medic.
> 
> An extra side note: I recently posted on my tumblr a family chart of just about everyone who shows up in this, since I know I use a lot of my OCs (sorry). I try to keep it simple with who appears, but if anyone wants a face to the characters I have everyone except Kurana (who only showed up once so far anyway) and some of the characters from the game like Lana, Koth, Senya, and Lokin for example. I figured you all know what they look like so it wouldn't be necessary since we all play the same game that they're from ;) I have it tagged "Shey talks about her OCs" If anyone wants to check it out. :)
> 
> As always, comments and feedback are greatly appreciated!


	25. Chapter 25

                Trey had left Koren’s room quickly after they had been interrupted. He hadn’t planned to do that. He flushed at the memory, remembering how eagerly Koren had returned his kiss. That wasn’t what he had planned at all.

                Trey growled in annoyance as he made his way through the base. He had originally planned to keep the fact that he had started to care about the merc a secret. He wasn’t entirely sure he was ready to move on from Vette, but after months of traveling with Koren he started having a harder and harder time picturing his life without him there. That idea scared him. What if something happened to him, what if he lost him like he lost everyone else he’s ever cared for? So he planned to keep his feelings secret, and just be friends with him while they traveled together, and then leave when he started to reach the limits of his patience.

                He clearly had less patience than he thought.

                He stopped, looking around and trying to figure out where he was. He was sure he was near the hangar by now. Probably. He debating on going back, heading for his room and try to do… something to work off some stress. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do just yet, he was still wound up from his fight, as well as with what happened with Koren.

                Someone coming down the hall made him freeze, sensing that it was Arcann. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do still, but he knew he didn’t want to see the prince so he bolted down another hallway, and circled around. It was mostly empty, with some storage crates scattered around in both the adjacent rooms and in the hallway itself. A forklift was parked in one room he walked by, the jeep covered in a clear tarp. It took him a while to make his way down the hall, though it did give him some time to relax. He checked a few rooms as he passed, having never been down this way before, but nothing interesting really stood out.

                The sound of a ship landing caught his attention, and he eventually walked out onto the landing pad. He glanced around, spotting Lana talking to a group of people, favoring speaking to a shorter woman with black hair that stood to her right. He was able to spot Koren on the other side speaking to Arcann and Koro and two kids. The merc eventually wandered away to join a group of three people who were speaking amongst themselves, leaving the prince with Kara’s brother and sons. They clearly knew each other based on the excited looks on their faces as they greeted him. He smiled at that, seeing Koren looking happy with them, and… his thoughts hit a wall as he registered how the others looked. “Did he bloody multiply?” He muttered as he started heading over to the group, still caught off guard by the fact that all three men shared the same face. He was so out of it he didn’t recognize the fourth of their group until she shouted at him.

                “DAD!” The girl shouted, pushing her way past the men and charging over to hug Trey.

                He looked at her in surprise as she ran up to him, before holding her close and burying his face into her shoulder, lifting her up in his arms. “Ren! I didn’t know you’d be out here.” He leaned back to look at his daughter before kissing her on the cheek.

                She laughed, “It wasn’t a planned thing. My Masters were on Iokath when we joined up with the Alliance. So we came back as representatives of the Republic.”

                “Your Masters?” Trey asked, glacing at the trio of Korens. They all had different clothes and hair, but all three had the same face. In fact from this far away he wouldn’t’ve been able to tell which was Koren if he didn’t have such a distinct tattoo covering his face.

                “Mmhmm.” Sheyren nodded and wriggled free of her father’s embrace, grabbing his hand and walking him over to meet them. “Dad, these are my Masters.” She gestured to the one to Koren’s left. “This is Battlemaster Kole Gates.” He had his hair cut in a faux-hawk with the sides shaved down and a short rat tail on the back, with multiple piercings in both ears. He wore an engineer’s jumpsuit with a brown vest and armored knee-high boots. “And this is the Barsen’thor Kody Gates.” She gestured to the one to the left of Kole. He had his hair in a generic Jedi like style, complete with the braid, with a deep scar cutting across his right eye and a carefully cared for goatee. He also wore a deep red long-coat with matching pants and boots. Both men shared the same hair color, face, and eyes as Koren, the same gray eyes that had begun to light a fire in him whenever they looked his way. “Masters, this is my father, Trey Hawke.” She finished her introductions.

                Trey nodded at them in polite greeting, attempting to ignore a clearly entertained Koren. “It’s good to meet you, thank you for training my daughter.”

                They returned his nod, Kody speaking up, “It’s been an honor training her, she’s very talented. I’m sure you’re quite proud of her.”

                Trey raised an eyebrow as he spoke, they even had the same voice as Koren. He glanced over at his daughter, eyes sparkling in joy. “I’m always proud of her.” He replied, giving her a smile. She beamed at him, before settling and trying her best to appear as the perfect Jedi. Trey thought it was adorable, she tried so hard to keep a smile from covering her face. He liked it when she smiled, she looked more like her mother than him, her blue eyes and red hair pulled up in a loose ponytail the same as that woman, but she shared his darker skin tone.

                Sheyren looked back at her father, grinning happily, the action pulling slightly on the intersection where the scars that cut across her nose and right eye connected. They were older, and didn’t seem to bother her much anymore, but they served as a reminder of why Trey had finally agreed with his sister about sending her to learn with the Jedi years ago. The reminder of another of his failures. He returned her smile, and turned his attention to Koren as the merc spoke up.

                “Kody and Kole are two of my brothers.” He slung his arm over Kole’s shoulder as he spoke, “The three of us were the middle kids, and probably the biggest trouble makers for our parents.” He laughed, “Since the three of us were identical we’d do all sorts of pranks when we were little. Though being mistaken as someone else all the time did get old fast.”

                “Well at least we won’t be mixed up much anymore.” Kody replied, grinning at his brother and earning a laugh from him. “Although… I did find out about that stunt you pulled on Nar Shaddaa three months ago, Kor.”

                “What stunt?” Koren grinned. “And it’s no problem, anything for my brother.”

                Kody shook his head, “Just don’t know how you managed to convince them you were me. Where did you even get a saberstaff that looks like mine?”

                “Lots of makeup and I made replicas of both of your lightsabers some time ago. Y’know, just in case.” Koren winked at them, “Besides, fair’s fair, after you led them off my trail a month before that, Kole.”

                Kole gave him a look of feigned insult, “I can’t believe you’d think I’d do something like that.” He grinned at them, before the trio burst out laughing.

                Trey watched them chat for a time before finally speaking up, “Do you three always do stuff like that?” It was a little unnerving to have all three of them turn their attention to him simultaneously.

                Koren spoke up first, “Sometimes.” He shrugged, “Jedi bring a lot of attention so I will lead other hunters off their tail every now and then. And being a champion of the great hunt also turns some heads so they do the same for me.”

                “Have to say I’m not a fan of the new armor. It makes it easier to pretend to be you, but it’s so heavy.” Kole grumbled.

                Koren shrugged, “You get used to it. Better than having to deal with blaster burns. Besides-“ The roar of an engine as another ship pulled in and landed cut him off.

                “There’s the commander.” Kody stated. “We’ll have to continue this later.” His brothers nodded at him as Koren broke off from the group and went to join Lana as her and a few others gathered to greet their commander.

                The ship landed carefully and depressurized, the ramp extending as it did so. A quiet whoosh of the door opening was all the warning they had before Kara and Theron exited the ship, followed closely by Elara.

                “I keep telling you, I’m fine.” Kara grumbled.

                “Kara, please, you’ve been through a lot, between Tyth and the sabotage.” Theron shook his head at her, “At least get checked out, just to make sure.”

                “I’ve had worse.”

                “I agree with Agent Shan, Commander. You should stop by the med bay.” Elara added in.

                “See?” Theron gestured at the soldier, “Will you go, please? For me?”

                Kara sighed, “Fine. If it’ll make you feel better.” He smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but return it with her own.

                “Won’t need to go all the way to the med bay.” Koren piped up, “I can check you out here if you’d like, while you go about your debriefing. And let your family know you’re alright, would you?” He gestured behind him towards where Koro and Arcann were standing. “They’ve been worried sick.”

                Kara nodded, “That would be great.” She gave her brother a wave, gesturing for him to come over as she sat on a nearby crate. His group headed her way as Koren pulled out a scanner, and started typing into it before letting the green light it emitted wash over his patient.

                He hummed a little as the device beeped, but nodded as he put it away. “It doesn’t look like there’s any lasting damage, the voltage doesn’t seem to have been high enough for anything too major.”

                “She was unconscious for hours.” Theron said, crossing his arms over his chest, “How is that not major?”

                “She’s still standing for one.” Koren shot back. “You’ll have bruising and muscle aches, put this on wherever it’s too sore.” He handed her a bottle of gel, “It’s better for burns, but it should help all the same. And try to take a warm bath, it’ll help as well. If there’s any swelling let me know, I can get some cold packs for you.”

                “That’s really your treatment?” Koro asked as he approached, allowing his nephews to go to their mother’s side. Arcann joined them as well, but hung further back, staying within earshot, but out of the way.

                “She’s up and moving around without any issues, and the scans didn’t come up with anything wrong internally. So just some tlc and she should be fine. The bath should be good for any muscle aches, the gel is a special mixture I made using kolto and some other special ingredients that’ll help with burns and keep scarring to a minimum. Trust me, I’ve had to keep my crew patched up for years, this stuff works.”

                “It’s alright Koro, I’ll vouch for him.” Theron added. “He’s patched me up a few times as well, he’s one of the best medics I’ve met.”

                “I think you mean _the_ best.” Koren said, smirking, earning a laugh from Kara. “See, she agrees.”

                Theron huffed in mock annoyance before changing the subject. “Anyway, on to that debriefing.”

                Kara sighed, “You mean that mess down on Iokath.”

                “What happened?” Koro asked.

                “Well, you’ve heard of the Zakuulan gods, right?” When Koro nodded, Kara continued. “Looks like they’re real.”

                “What?” Arcann blurted out.

                Kara looked at him, raising an eyebrow before continuing, “When we sided with the Republic on the superweapon debacle, Acina went and woke up Tyth. Who is, apparently, one of the superweapons.”

                When she paused, Theron continued, “The Zakuulan gods are all superweapons, stored on Iokath. We’re still not clear on if they were created by Valkorian, or if he found them. Either way, they’re dangerous and we need to find a way to stop them.”

                “Plus there’s the issue with the traitor.” Lana added. She glanced around at the group gathered, debating on sharing details. Since a majority was family, she decided to be up front about it. Lowering her voice so only those gathered could hear her, she continued. “Someone sabotaged the control consoles while the Commander was plugged in. We need to find out who it was.”

                “And we will.” Theron confirmed, “We’ve already started taking steps on figuring out who did it.” He glanced around, “We’ll have to be careful, and keep an eye on the Commander at all times.”

                “Oh no we won’t.” Kara pushed herself to her feet. “I’m fully capable of taking care of myself.”

                “You almost died.” Theron stared her down.

                “Almost. And now I know someone’s targeting me, it won’t happen again.” She sighed, “Theron this isn’t the first time I’ve been betrayed. I’ll be fine, we need to focus on stopping those superweapons first.”

                Theron narrowed his eyes at her, before sighing and letting the matter drop for now. “Right. On to that then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trey is an absolute mess of a sith. Buuut I've been waiting for a great moment to bring in Koren's brothers for a while now, and this may actually be the only time they show up, I honestly haven't put much thought into them coming back, but they might? As for their voice, I made Koren in game a couple years before making his brothers so all three would sound like the male bounty hunter since that's what Koren is. Sometimes I wish we could choose a specific voice for each character rather than it being based on class sometimes, but writing that the have the same voice will have to do. ;)  
> As a note I did absolutely zero research so if any of Koren's treatment is wrong that's on me.  
> As another note, I'm sure you've all also realized I'm absolutely terrible with names and I just go with ones that are fun to say or sound similar (i.e. Koro, Kara, Koren, Kody, Kole, Connor, Caleb, Kurana.) See. absolutely terrible. 
> 
> Enjoy!! And as always, comments and reviews are greatly appreciated!


	26. Chapter 26

                Arcann paced his room. The rest of the debriefing had gone as expected; talks on what will happen in the empire with Acina dead, tracking down the traitor, how they’re going to handle the Gods. That one was something Arcann was having a hard time getting a grip on. That his Gods were real, not some cosmic entity that was talked about in quiet reverence or worshiped by zealots, but actual walking talking beings.

                Arcann would be the first to admit that he wasn’t one who believed in the Gods. It’s not that he didn’t believe they existed, he had figured there had to be some truth to the myths, just that they weren’t these all powerful beings that decided the path of fate like so many of his people believed. He supposed he was right in a way, they weren’t cosmic in any way, just machines powerful enough to wipe out an entire planet. Which brought his racing thoughts back to the other issue that arose from Iokath.

                Someone had tried to kill the Commander. Again. He really shouldn’t’ve been surprised, since he himself had tried to take her life more than once, but to hear that it was by someone close to them? The thought that someone would betray her hurt him more than he had expected. That she didn’t even seem fazed at the idea of someone doing so bothered him much more.

                Glancing at the finished armor that he had left on his bed, he stopped his pacing. Grabbing his datapad he sent a message to Kara, finally deciding on his course of action. He asked to speak to her privately, suggesting her personal landing pad. He liked it there, it had a wonderful view of both the forests of Odessen as well as the base and the Gravestone. It was both secluded enough that they wouldn’t have to worry about being listened in on, and public enough that she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable.

                His datapad dinged to alert him of her reply, agreeing to meet him there, and letting him know she’d be free in a half hour. He hadn’t expected such a quick response. Shooting another message her way, he paced around his room again before deciding to just wait for her there. There were worse ways to waste time than to sit in the grass and relax for half an hour.

                Fixing his tunic, he checked himself over in a mirror, inspecting the wounds on his face. The Kolto-mixture was doing it’s job, the swelling had already gone down and there was hardly any bruising. The gauze on his face itched, and it took everything he had to keep from either ripping it off or scratching at it. Unsure how long he was supposed to keep the bandage on, he shot a message over to Koren to check. He hadn’t even looked away from the datapad when it dinged, the reply flashing across the screen.

                ‘Tomorrow. And don’t pick at it.’ He chuckled at that, the merc already aware of why he was asking. The screen lit up again with another message from him, ‘Still on for tonight? Stealing some snacks atm.’ Arcann replied with his confirmation.

                The screen lit up with a third message from the merc, ‘Can’t wait, I’ll bring the cards. Just bring you. XO’ And a fourth message came across before Arcann could reply, ‘The XO is a joke, don’t worry, I know you got the hots for the Commander.’

                He scoffed, shaking his head, he shot back a ‘very funny’ before putting the datapad away and grabbed the chestplate. He left his room, making his way through the halls. People passed, though few of them paid him any mind. Some glanced his way, and a couple nodded to him in greeting as they passed. He nodded back, surprised at the interaction, but taking it as a sign that he was slowly being accepted.

                He spotted Caleb talking animatedly with his brother, the usual serious look on his face replaced with a huge smile as they chatted. Connor waved his hands enthusiastically about something, causing the older boy to start laughing. Glancing over, the pair spotted him as he approached. Connor practically glowed with happiness as he started waving at him, while Caleb’s smile dropped as he watched him.

                “Arcann! Hey!” Connor practically shouted. “What’re you doing? Looking for mom?”

                Arcann shook his head, “I’m supposed to talk with her soon, but I know where we’re supposed to meet up at.”

                “Are you going to play Sabaac with Uncle Koro tomorrow?” Caleb asked. His voice wavered slightly, like he was unsure if he should be asking, but also like he wanted to ask something else as well.

                “Yes. Koren invited me.” Arcann went to scratch at the gauze but stopped himself mid motion, opting to pick at the collar of his tunic instead. Caleb looked put out at his confirmation, “Did you want to play as well?”

                Caleb looked up at him, surprise on his face. “We weren’t invited since we’re too young.”

                “I could play with you, if you’d like. Koren’s going to show me how to play tonight, but I can skip out on tomorrow’s game and play with you two instead.” He wasn’t sure if he was over-stepping here, by offering to play with them. Kara was extremely protective of her sons, but she seemed to trust him with them, so Arcann felt safe to at least ask them if they would like to spend time with him.

                Connor beamed up at him, “Really?? You want to play with us?”

                “It’s just a card game Connor, the one Risha would play with Corso.” Caleb cocked his head to the side. “The one that Guss was showing us how to play.”

                “He wasn’t very good at it. I beat him once.”

                Caleb laughed slightly before turning his attention to Arcann, “Alright.” He stated matter-of-factly. “We’ll play tomorrow after dinner. You should still be able to make Uncle’s game that way.” He smirked, “If you have any credits left that is.”

                Arcann was caught off-guard by that smirk, it wasn’t a look that he knew from the rest of Caleb’s family. He couldn’t help but return it with a smirk of his own though, “Alright, you’re on.”

                Koro entering the room caught the attention of the boys, who bid Arcann farewell as they ran off with their uncle. Alone again, Arcann continued on to the commander’s hangar, greeting Dr. Lokin as he passed.

                The doctor stopped him before he got to the elevator, pointing at his left shoulder, “Don’t forget about your appointment tomorrow.”

                Arcann grumbled in reply, “I know.”

                “And please remind the Commander as well. You both are terrible about keeping up your prosthetics, and after her injury…” Lokin trailed off.

                “I’ll remind her.”

                Lokin nodded, “Just don’t forget.” He turned and left, returning to his work.

                Pressing the button for the elevator, Arcann left the military hangar. It was sunny, as usual, as he strode across the bridge. The shadows cast from the ship and the surrounding hills kept the area shaded well enough, but the sun felt good on his face as he found a nice place to sit. He placed the chestplate on the grass, seating himself next to it and closed his eyes.

                He must of dozed off for a bit, since the next thing he heard was the sound of the elevator from the base startling him awake. Scrambling to his feet, he turned to greet Kara as she walked up to him, a smile on her face.

                “How are you feeling Commander?”

                “Better, was in the bath when you messaged me. Koren was right, it seems to have helped.” She cocked her head to the side, looking at him. “You said you wanted to talk?”

                He nodded, looking down as he collected his thoughts. She seemed nervous, but he knew he shouldn’t put this off much longer. “I had something I wanted to give you, a gift.” He stated, leaning down to pick up the chestplate and handed it to her. “I’ve been working on this since you allowed me to join the Alliance.”

                “Armor?” She took it from him, and ran her hand across the golden metal, “It’s beautiful, I can’t believe you made this for me.” She looked up at him, “Thank you.”

                He watched her a moment as she traced her fingers along the engraving on the collar before he spoke up. “It was the least I could do for you, after everything you have done for me. For my mother.” He paused, thinking, “And after what happened on Iokath and with Trey.” He shook his head. “I was… Everyone was worried for you. If I’m unable to fight by your side I want you to wear this, to protect you when I can’t.”

                Kara couldn’t help but chuckle at that, earning a look from Arcann. “I’m sorry, you just sounded like Theron there. He said something similar to me a night or two before we went to Alderaan.” She gave him an apologetic smile, “I wasn’t laughing at you, I promise.”

                “It would be fair to laugh. I know I sound like a fool.” He shook his head and cut her off before she could speak, “But I’ve been thinking about what you said when we were heading back from Alderaan. About how you... felt about me.”

                “Arcann, if it makes you uncomfortable we don’t have to talk about it. I’d understand if you don’t feel the same.” She shrugged stiffly, as if she was trying to make him feel better, “I know you still have a lot to work through, and something like me confessing to you out of the blue like that couldn’t’ve helped. I just wanted you to know.”

                “It’s not. I’m not.” He stopped, sighing heavily before speaking again, “After everything that I’ve done, to you, the Alliance, the galaxy. That you would say you cared about me. I…” He shook his head. “I do care. About you, I mean. And I’d… I’d like to pursue… this.” He gestured vaguely, “But I don’t want to hurt you, after everything. I’ve done a lot of terrible things, and I have a long way to go before I could even think of deserving someone like you.”

                Kara placed the chestplate on the ground carefully, and closed the distance between them, placing a hand on his arm. He looked down at her, the look in his blue eyes a mixture of worry. She smiled gently at him, “What you deserve is someone a lot better than me. But if you’re willing, I’d like to see how ‘us’ works.”

                He smiled at her, the first real smile she had seen from him since they had met. “You and me and?”

                “And Theron, yes.” Kara chuckled, “I love him. And that’s not going to change. But…” She paused, looking up at him again, “He did happen to say he found you attractive as well.” She winked at him. “So… What do you say?”

                He thought for a moment, “I would like that. ‘Us’.” He smiled, cupping her cheek with his hand. “The three of us.” She grinned at him, leaning forward and resting her hand on his chest. He seemed to fidget a little, but didn’t pull away. “I’m… unsure on how to proceed.”

                “Well, kissing me would be a good start.” She looked up at him expectantly.

                “That I can do.” He said as he leaned down to kiss her, carefully at first, unsure if she would change her mind at the last second or if the feeling of his scars would bother her. But when she leaned into him more he deepened it. He heard her chuckle when he pulled her closer to him, and felt her arms wrap around him. He broke away when the need for air forced him to pull back, and rested his forehead against hers. Her breathless laugh made him grin, “I take it that was alright?”

                She hummed, “If I say yes, will you do that again?” He kissed her again as an answer. A binging sound caught their attention and she sighed. Pulling away, she pulled out her comm., answering it. “What’s on fire this time?”

                Lana’s annoyed look greeted her, “Where have you run off to now, Commander?”

                “I’m at my hangar. I was talking to Arcann before I went to meet up with my boys for dinner.” She tossed an apologetic look his way as she spoke, “Is there something wrong?”

                Lana shook her head, “Nothing that’s an emergency, but one of our shuttles made an unscheduled take off, and after your last stunt…” She trailed off.

                Arcann stepped closer to Kara, so Lana would be able to see him in the holo. “I asked her to meet with me, I apologize if I took her away from her work.”

                Lana raised an eyebrow at him before speaking, “No, it’s alright. I’ll check with Hylo and see if it was anyone she knew. I’ll leave you two be.” She gave them an awkward smile and then the holo disconnected.

                “Well…” Kara pocketed the device and turned her attention back to Arcann.

                “You should get to your sons, I’m sure they’re already waiting for you. I didn’t mean to keep you.”

                Kara smiled at him, leaning up to kiss him gently, “Would you like to join us?” She asked, taking his hand, “It’s nothing overly private, just grabbing some food in the mess hall with my boys, Koro, and Theron.”

                Arcann thought about it a moment before nodding, “As long as I’m not intruding.”

                “You never do.” Her smile spread as she turned and walked back toward the bridge, tugging on his arm for him to follow her. He obliged, catching up to walk side by side with her, hand in hand. She squeezed his hand, and looked up at him lovingly, he leaned down to kiss her again as the elevator doors opened.

                They stepped inside before he spoke again, “Whatever comes our way, we’ll face it together.”

                She smiled at him, “Together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *rubs hands together* I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for a while tbh. I did, once again, use some lines from the actual cutscene when you start the romance, because it's a great moment in the game. To those of you wondering, because I made a point that this is going to be a poly relationship, he will have a chat with Theron in an upcoming chapter, but I'm still working on it, mostly because i'm still figuring out when they would, because it probably should not be during sabaac night. I'm pretty sure that would kill the party mood, if only for the rest of the guys at the game.  
> PS. Koren is a great friend when he tries to be.  
> Any comments or reviews would be super appreciated!!
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed!!


	27. Chapter 27

                Kara had sent Arcann a message later that evening while he was playing sabaac with Koren. She was checking her datapad almost an hour later with no reply. She leaned back on the couch, thinking over what had happened, grinning happily at the memory. She hadn’t expected him to actually feel the same and be willing to attempt a relationship of all three of them. She glanced down at the message she had sent, rereading it.

                ‘Arcann, Thank you again for the gift. I’ll take good care of it. I really appreciate it. As for the other, equally wonderful things, you gave me, I wanted to let you know that we can do this by your rules. How fast or slow we take this, who knows and who doesn’t. How open or private you want to keep this. I’ll only tell Theron, and leave the rest up to you to decide. Just know that you’re welcome to come and go in our room as you please. I can set up an area for your things if you want. Just let me know. Sweet dreams.’

                Kara thought that sounded alright. She knew that this is a totally new step for them, so she wants him to be as comfortable as possible. Her first concern now was how her sons would react to him, but they’ve seemed to have begun to opened up to him. Her next concern was how her dad and brother would react. She doubted Koro would have too much of a problem with it, but she couldn’t always predict how he would react. Blue on the other hand, she doubted he would be happy about her relationship. He had begrudgingly accepted her relationship with Theron, after quite a bit complaining and at least one threat towards the spy. Theron had brushed it off well enough, having shrugged and said that it’s nothing he couldn’t handle. But Blue had at least had some respect for Theron before he knew about their relationship, whereas with Arcann he had none. He had been one of those who were vocal about his distrust of the former emperor when he had first joined the Alliance months ago, so for him to now find out his only daughter was in a relationship with him? Kara shook her head at the thought.

                “Relax Kara, he’ll reply when he gets the chance.” Theron said as he sat down next to her, pulling her close and kissing her. “Koren’s showing him how to play Sabaac right? He can be really particular when he’s teaching, so Arcann probably won’t get back to you for a while yet.”

                She sighed, and leaned in to him, resting her head on his shoulder, “I know. That’s not what I was worrying about.” She put down the datapad, and reached over to hold Theron’s hand, rubbing her thumb on it gently.

                “Thinking about how your father is going to react?” When she nodded, Theron huffed a laugh. “That did cross my mind as well.”

                “He really hates him.” Kara murmured, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen Blue not glaring daggers at him.”

                “Well, I guess it’s only natural for Master Strider to be like that. Arcann did take his only daughter away from him for years.”

                Kara chuckled, “And then I end up falling for him on top of it. Dad will definitely not be happy.”

                Theron laughed, “I think ‘not happy’ would be an understatement. I doubt he’d hurt him, might scare him a little. Make sure he’s not just leading you on.”

                Kara hummed, “I just.” She sighed, “I guess I just want them to get along. Koro, at least, I have some confidence that he’ll be alright with it. He never made a big deal about you and I being together.”

                “I did live with him for almost five years before you and I made anything official.” Theron rubbed her arm with his hand, placing a kiss on her head before he got to his feet. “After that long I think he came around to accepting me as family. Plus with your sons…” He shrugged as he walked away, stripping off his shirt and tossing it on a chair.

                Kara watched him with interest, he was trying to distract her, she could tell. And it almost annoyed her that it was working. “I did notice that my boys call you ‘dad’. “ She saw him smirk at that as he undid his pants.

                “I didn’t tell them to, if that’s what you’re wondering. I won’t ask them to stop unless you want them to. I kind of like it, being their dad.” He shimmied out of his pants, pulling them off and tossing them at Kara.

                Kara laughed, catching the clothes and dropping them on the couch. She stood, leaning on the couch with her arms crossed in mock annoyance. “What are you doing?”

                “It’s not obvious?” He grinned, striding up to her and placing his hands on her hips.

                “Trying to be a distraction?”

                “I’m trying to be sexy.” He kissed her before retreating, pulling her hand for her to follow, and seating himself on their bed.

                “You’re always sexy, you don’t even need to try.” She smiled as she followed him, pulling off her own clothes as she went. Her smile dropped as she looked down at him. “I’m sorry, I know I worried you.”

                A flash of concern crossed his face before it was quickly replaced with a sly grin as he pulled her into his arms and fell back on the bed, pulling a surprised gasp from his lover. He kissed her fiercely as he rolled them over so he was propped up on his arms above her. Theron gently cupped her face with one hand, “I’ll always be worried for you, that’s part of being in love with the most important person in the galaxy.” He kissed her, first on the lips and then the jaw and neck, scattering kisses all over until he heard her start laughing.

                “I’m not sure I would go that far.” She smiled at him, reaching up and wrapping her arms around his head and pulled him close enough that she could kiss him.

                “You are to me.”

                Kara looked up at him, seeing the love in his eyes, “And you are to me as well. I love you, Theron.”

                “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a bit since we've seen them getting all cuddly and I missed it so I hope you like them together as much as I do, because they are definitely still a thing.   
> As a note, Kara's father, Blue, is not my character, but rather my mom's Jedi by the name of Bluevegas Strider. We RP together on occasion as a father/daughter team, and she really really doesn't like Arcann, so therefor neither does Blue. And by how she's written Blue, he's extremely overprotective of a total of two people, and that's his wife, Kira, and his daughter Kara. which writing their names side by side reminds me to never write them speaking to each other since I'm sure I'll screw up and switch their names at least once.
> 
> As always, comments and reviews are greatly appreciated!  
> Enjoy!!


	28. Chapter 28

                A quiet sound caused Koren’s eyes to snap open. He groaned as he pushed himself up to a sitting position, yawning dramatically and rubbing his back as he scanned the room. There were snack packages scattered around, with empty bottles mixed in, some alcoholic, some not. The low rumble of quiet snoring brought his attention to the other person in the room, spotting Arcann sleeping on his bed. He swore the former emperor had every blanket Koren owned wrapped tightly around him as he watched him grumble and attempt to roll over.

                Chuckling, the merc pushed himself to his feet, stretching, “Explains why I was on the floor.” He muttered. “Have to let the Commander know he’s a blanket hog.” He searched around his room for a clean shirt.

                Another sound caught his attention, this time recognizing it as a knock at the door. Koren was already on the otherside of the room, and debated on navigating the death trap of bottles and wrappers for half a second before opting to just open the door from where he was. Reaching out carefully with the Force he unlocked and opened the door, the action waking the sleeping prince, who sat up quickly and scanned the room for threats.

                Caleb stood at the door, with a young woman with almost cinnamon brown hair by his side. Koren recognized her though he hadn’t talked with her much since they had first met on Alderaan. “Cal, Lyra. What are you two doing here so early?”

                Caleb huffed, “It’s not that early.”

                Lyra laughed, “We’re helping out in the med bay today. And Agent Shan asked us to bring you your patient list and your datapad that you left in the war room again.” She smiled sunnily, and Koren couldn’t help but wonder how such a sweetheart could be Trey’s niece. “He also said that you have a hard time waking up in the mornings.”

                Koren hummed, “Didn’t think he’d remember that.” He navigated his way across the room, pulling on a shirt and tossing a black tank to Arcann for him to wear for the time being. Taking the datapad, “I’ll head down there after I grab something to eat.”

                Lyra nodded and left, heading back down the hall. Caleb hung back for a moment, eyeing Arcann suspiciously before running after her.

                Koren sighed, dropping himself on the bed, stretching again and started scrolling though his appointments for the day and messages from the night before. “Well, no emergencies just yet.” He mumbled, “Looks like a surgery, and a few post-op check-ups. Speaking of, Ar, you can stop wearing that cold-pack. It stopped being cold hours ago, you don’t need to keep it on after it’s warm.”

                Arcann perked up at the nickname, raising an eyebrow, “Ar?” He picked at the tape that held the pack on, removing it carefully. His chest was still bruised from his fight with Trey, but it didn’t feel too sore anymore.

                “Yeah. You’re name’s kinda long so figured Ar was a good way to shorten it. Like how everyone calls me Kor.” He grinned.

                “My name’s not that long.”

                “It’s just something friends do, man.” Koren opened one of the messages, scanning it before closing it again and resuming scrolling. “If it makes you that uncomfortable I’ll stop.”

                “We’re friends?” Arcann asked. He had pulled on the shirt he was given and dug around for his own datapad, finding it half buried under all the blankets.

                “We got drunk, played sabacc all night, and shared a bed. I think that would make us friends, yeah.” He paused, “Wouldn’t do something like that with just anyone.” He opened another message, “Speaking of friends, your girlfriend sent me a note to say thank you and that she’s feeling a lot better.” He gave him a knowing grin.

                A slight blush covered Arcann’s face as he turned his full attention to his own messages.

                “And judging by that look she sent you one as well, though I’m sure it’s not for her health update.” Koren chuckled and stood up, retrieving his boots and picking up some of the trash that was strewn about.

                “She said she wants to do things how I want to.” Arcann spoke up after a moment.

                Koren raised an eyebrow, “That’s good right?” When Arcann nodded he continued, “Good, she’s respecting your personal limits. Part of what makes her such a good commander I guess.” He chuckled, tossing Arcann’s boots and his clothes to him. “Might want to get that cleaned before you wear it, I’m pretty sure that stain is just ale, but can’t be too careful. Beside’s that tank suits you.”

                Arcann glanced down at the shirt as he strapped his boots on. It was black and had a graphic on it, depicting what looked like a Nexu grinning. He shot Koren a glare, opting to keep his comments to himself as he stood up and helped clean up. He used the force to gather much of the trash in a pile and pushed it into a bag. Koren grinned, picking up the last bits and wiping his hands on his pants. “Alright, let’s get something to eat.”

                The pair left the room, Arcann let Koren ramble on about various topics for a bit, sabacc tips, patients that he’s worked with, some comments about Theron. After a time he finally spoke up. “Why don’t you use the Force that often?” he asked.

                Koren stopped walking, watching the other man as he debated on how to reply. After a few awkward moments he sighed, “You’ve killed people using the Force before.” He continued, already knowing the answer. “Breaking someone’s neck with the flick of a wrist, ripping off someone’s arms with a gesture. Being able to wreck havoc and destroy so many lives with but a thought. How did it make you feel? Powerful? Unbeatable?”

                Arcann narrowed his eyes, “It.” He paused, thinking of how to reply, “It differed from battle to battle. Some was necessary for my own survival and others.” He trailed off, recalling his fight against Kara on Asylum and his fight against Thexan in the Spire. He shook his head.

                “I lost my older brother when I was little.” Koren continued, “I looked up to him, wanted to be just like him when I grew up, he was my hero. But one day we were jumped by a mugger when we were out getting a gift for one of my sisters, I think it was for her birthday.” He sighed, “It was so long ago now.” He paused, collecting his thoughts. “He was shot in the heart, trying to protect me. And I-. I wasn’t strong enough to do anything but stand there and cry until he died and his murderer escaped.         

                “My family? They just accepted it. They were upset, he was important to all of us, kept us in line when we’d argue and keep us from fighting too much, but they just let him go. Just like that. But I couldn’t. My brothers, Kody and Kole, they went to join the Jedi, saying they wanted to help the people in our area, make sure something like that wouldn’t happen again. But not me. I couldn’t let go, couldn’t accept it. I left, traveled around looking for the man who had killed him. I used the little control of the Force that I had to get my way, to get the answers I wanted.” He paused, his eyes shining with barely held back tears. Arcann didn’t dare stop him. Koren laughed, the sound sad, before continuing, “I got stronger and stronger, and eventually I found him holed up in some slum. I hurt him, twisted his body and beat him until he was begging me to let him go. I had already killed so many of his friends, and he knew it too. I held his life in my hands and I took it from him, letting him die slowly, bleeding out on the floor like he had done to my brother.

                “I thought I’d be content, my brother could rest, he was avenged. But I just felt sick. I had caused so much destruction in a single focus, I ruined lives. They all had families, people who cared for them, but I hadn’t cared. I only cared about what they had taken from me and I.” He stopped, running his hand through his hair, “I left. I ran and ran, and I disappeared. I had already dropped all contact with my family at that point, I didn’t want them to get hurt, so it wasn’t hard to just drop off the radar. I decided to make amends, stopped using the Force entirely, signed on as a republic soldier for a while, got trained as a medic when they saw how lousy of a shot I was.Went AWOL after a few battles, I didn’t want to see anymore deaths, lose anyone else. So I kept myself distant, became a bounty hunter, and moved around a lot. Debated on settling down a couple times, met a girl on Alderaan who I thought was nice. She used me to piss off her dad so I left, met Theron on Nar Shaddaa sometime after. Things went so well with him, I fell in deep. But my fear of losing him drove me to take a job with another hunter I had met. Theron and I ended up breaking up, going our separate ways since things were picking up with the SIS again. And I was on my own again, eventually I met Shey and we’ve been traveling together since.”

                He shifted uneasily, clearing his throat. “Braden, the hunter I had signed on with, was who introduced us. He was killed by another hunter in an underhanded move. When I found him dead, I almost lost it again, almost made the same mistakes, and I just couldn’t let myself do that again. I was part of a team then, Shey and Mako, they kept me grounded, kept me from running off and destroying myself again. I got back in contact with my family, got close to my brothers again. Got my life back on track.” He looked up, meeting Arcann’s gaze, “Just.” He sighed, “I can use the Force for little things, or if I’m pretending to be one of my brothers. But I can’t use it to fight, not anymore. I’ve never had the best control so it’s not like I could heal with it like some can, but I can at least move stuff around and open doors and that’s all I need.”

                “I’m sorry.” Arcann said. He stood there awkwardly, not sure what he could say that would make him feel better.

                “Don’t be. It’s not your fault.” Koren shook his head, laughing a little, “The only people I’ve ever told that story to was Theron, Shey and my brothers. So please don’t spread it around, it might scare my patients if they knew.”

                “I won’t tell anyone.”

                Koren nodded. “Thank you. And I’m sorry, for going off like that, I just.” He scratched his head. “I don’t want to see others make my mistakes. It’s why I’ve been so hard on Trey I guess.” He glanced around, realizing that he had just spilled his heart out in a, thankfully, empty hall. “We should probably get to the mess hall.” He started to walk, gesturing for Arcann to follow.

                Arcann hung back a moment before hurrying after him. When he caught up he walked along side him quietly before speaking up. “Kor. Can I tell you about my brother? About Thexan?”

                Koren glanced at him, a small smile on his face at the use of the nickname, “Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to be completely honest, but it was really hard writing this. Because for a really long time I wanted to give Koren a good backstory and when I wrote this it just kinda flowed so well I didn't want to change anything. I also cried a bit while writing it. Rereading it later made it seem like he just rambled on really fast, it wasn't meant to be like that, but I still don't really want to change much so I'll just leave it. I did want to try to get across that Koren is a rambler, because he's just like that with people he's comfortable with, but I don't want him to be overly annoying, so he won't get like this too often. Promise.
> 
> As always, any reviews or comments are greatly appreciated!!  
> Hope you all enjoyed!


	29. Chapter 29

                The mess hall was busy as usual, but Koren had managed to find a table for them to sit and eat at. It had started as just them, but a shout was the only warning the pair had before Connor sprinted over to them.

                “Uncle Kor! Papa! Good morning!” Connor skidded to a halt, quickly climbing into a chair next to them, practically brimming with energy.

                “Papa?” Arcann asked confused, earning a snorted laugh from Koren.

                “Did you have fun playing cards last night? We’re still playing today right?” If Connor could talk any faster Arcann would be surprised. “Caleb said you might try and skip out, but you won’t right? You promised and Knights don’t break promises. At least that’s what Senya said. Oh! She said good morning too, I saw her a bit ago.”

                “Planning on putting those Sabaac skills to good use, Papa?” Koren asked, leaning on one arm, smirking, “Can I play too? I would hate to miss seeing you lose to a couple of kids.”

                Arcann glared at him, before turning his attention back to Connor. “I’m still going to play.” Connor brightened at the confirmation, “But why are you calling me Papa?”

                Connor cocked his head to the side, “Because, you and Mom are together.”

                Arcann shushed him, trying to keep him from shouting it for the whole room to hear, “She told you?” He could understand her wanting to tell her sons about their relationship, but it hurt a little to think that she wouldn’t’ve told him ahead of time.

                Connor shook his head quickly, “Nope. I saw when I was sleeping. You and mom were talking and you kissed her, promised you’d be together forever.” He leaned back and forth in his chair thinking, “Or something like that. When I told Caleb about it he said dreams are hard to figure out sometimes, but I know what I saw. So.”

                “Now you’re calling him Papa.” Koren finished, stifling a laugh. “Gotta say, wasn’t expecting you to be a dad so quickly into the relationship but I guess you have two sons now.”

                “But why papa?” Arcann asked. He knew Connor was Force sensitive, so for him to have picked up their relationship wouldn’t be a surprise, but so quickly? It did explain the strange look Caleb had given him earlier.

                Connor eyed him before replying matter-of-factly. “Theron’s already my Dad, and I can’t call you both that.”

                “Well that’s that. Papa Arcann.” Koren started laughing, covering his face with his hands as the glare Arcann shot him made him laugh harder.

                Connor watched their exchange, not sure why it was so funny, but didn’t comment. Instead he went back to address Koren’s previous question. “Did you want to play with us too? It’d be even more fun.”

                “Sure, Con, I’d love to.” He replied, trying to get his laughter under control. “Gives me a chance to give your papa some pointers before he gets taken to the cleaners.” Another glare from Arcann made him start laughing again, but the appearance of Senya made them all quiet down. “Morning Senya.”

                “Good morning mother.” Arcann greeted.

                “Good morning.” Senya held her own food tray and took a seat next to her son, “I take it I’ve missed something funny.” She smiled at them.

                Koren could never get used to how serene she always sounded. “Nothing major, was just teasing Ar about how bad he is at sabacc.”

                “I didn’t think I did that bad.”

                “You lost every hand. And you have some really obvious tells.” Koren crossed his arms. “You also tried to read my cards using the Force at least three times. By the way, that won’t work on the rest of the guys tonight. Gault is especially good at blocking that move.”

                Arcann grumbled in reply. “I didn’t plan on trying.”

                “I’m just warning you ahead of time. He constantly cheats, and the last time I tried to read him, he just pictured some really kinky sex of him and Hylo and I wasn’t able to look her in the eye for a week. It was bad.” Senya made a sound of disproval, and nodded towards Connor. “Ah. Yea. Uh. Just, don’t try reading Gault’s mind, that’s all I’m trying to say. It’s never a good idea.” He patted Connor on the head, “Promise me you’ll never try reading Gault’s mind, Con.”

                “I promise.” Connor paused, “I don’t really like him much. He’s creepy.”

                “That’s for the best.” Koren turned his attention back to his food, eating quickly as his comm started going off. He choked, swallowing what he could before answering it. A man dressed as a nurse looked worried and explained an emergency, asking for him to come down and help. Koren excused himself, ruffling Connor’s hair as he rushed to the med bay. Stopping for half a second to greet one of his brothers as they walked into the room.

                “He works too hard sometimes.” Senya said as they continued eating, Arcann claiming the remnants of Koren’s breakfast as his, and letting Connor take his pick from both trays. “You two spent some time together last night, correct? Is he getting enough rest?”

                Arcann raised an eyebrow at her concern. “As far as I was able to tell.” She nodded, smiling slightly. “You know he’s with Trey right?”

                “That’s not why I was.” Senya paused, looking down at her food, “I was just asking since I see him in the med bay a lot. Not for any other reason.”

                Arcann hummed in reply.

                “Hey, Papa.” Connor grabbed his hand, pulling his attention back to the blonde. “Can you show me how to use a lightsaber sometime? I’ve asked mom but she’s been so busy. And I’ve seen holos of you fighting and.” He was grinning excitedly.

                “Sure, as long as your mother is alright with it.” He nodded toward Senya, “Though I’m sure your grandfather or Senya would be a better choice.”

                Connor shook his head, “No. Grampa’s way of fighting doesn’t look as fun. And he’s been busy with Auntie Lana since she got back anyway.” He paused, “They’re trying to figure out who hurt mom, so I don’t want to bother them.” He stood up, taking Koren’s empty food tray. “I’ll go ask.” He ran off, putting the tray away and leaving the mess hall.

                “I don’t think I’ve seen him so energetic before.” Senya looked at him with a sly smile, “But… Papa?”

                “Don’t ask.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly hope this isn't the last time I write a hyperactive connor because it was really entertaining for me. He's the type that calls people he likes uncle and aunt. He calls Anya Grandma, and will call Senya Gram on occaision, as will Caleb.
> 
> As always, comments and reviews are appreciated!  
> Hope you enjoyed!


	30. Chapter 30

                Kara grumbled at the report on her datapad. She paced the war room, reading it as she walked. The uprisings were fairly under control, but that Port Nowhere was still occupied bothered her. Putting the datapad down on the larger of the two terminals that took up the room, she grabbed her personal datapad that was nearby, hoping that there might something of good news on there.

                A message from Dr. Lokin to remind her of her appointment later, a reply from Koren, a handful of messages from Theron, one from her father, two from Jace, and an encrypted message from an unnamed sender. She ignored the message from Lokin, already knowing it was in regards to her leg and the events on Iokath, and instead opened and replied to the ones from Koren and Theron.

                As she was typing a reply the sound of the elevator on the far side of the room made her glance up. Senya, Arcann, and Lana strode over after the lift stopped moving. She smiled at them, greeting them. “Good Morning.” They each greeted her in return as she turned her attention back to her messages.

                “You shouldn’t be working so early, Commander.” Senya spoke up. “You need your rest.”

                Kara waved off her concern, “I’m fine, I don’t do well with having nothing to do. Besides I’m just reading my messages.”

                “Even still.” Senya sighed. “At least eat something while you read them.”

                She opened one of the messages from Jace. “I don’t eat breakfast, and I already did some meditation with Theron and Koro. Thank you for the concern.”

                “Kara…” Senya crossed her arms.

                “I’m fine _Mom_.” Kara replied in annoyance, rolling her eyes, earning a laugh from Lana. “I’m more concerned with what Connor was asking a little bit ago.” She turned her attention to Arcann, “You’re going to teach him how to use a lightsaber? Arcann are you sure you want to do that?”

                He nodded, “He seems to be interested in learning, and I was his age when I was trained.”

                She hummed in thought, but nodded and turned her attention back to continue reading her message. “Just be careful. If he gets hurt…”

                Arcann strode over to stand by her, “I won’t show him anything too dangerous. You can trust me.”

                She smirked, glancing at him “I know.”

                Lana glanced between the two of them before they each went about their own responsibilities and reviewed their messages. They were all joined by Koth and T7, and eventually Theron as they worked. Kara studiously ignored the encrypted message, instead replying to Lokin’s message first and the one from Blue before reading the other one from Jace instead.

                Both messages from Jace were to the point, the first was sent soon after she had left Iokath, thanking her for her assistance against the Empire and was entirely professional. The second was sent much later that night and was much more personal. An inquiry to her health after her injury, asking for updates on Theron, and an offer for drinks if they get a chance to meet without a war going on.

                It had been years since she had seen him in person, the last time being on Alderaan before Caleb was born, and before either of them had such responsibilities. But he really hadn’t changed much over the years, something that she was grateful for. She had an easy time working with him then, and she had an even easier time working with him now. Unfortunately she also still had an easy time flirting with the soldier, something she had done a couple times by habit in front of Theron.

                She hadn’t known Jace was Theron’s father until after their relationship had become official when they had reunited on Odessen. And since neither talked about their previous relationships more than necessary, she hadn’t had a chance to tell Theron that she had known Jace outside of just working with him once on Alderaan, and for him on Makeb. Or that she had had a one night stand with him soon after claiming Nok Drayen’s treasure. And now? Now would be a little awkward to bring that up. She would keep that knowledge to herself for the time being and hope Jace wouldn’t say anything to Theron about it either. At least until she found a good time to tell him, if such a time existed.

                She glared at the encrypted message, debating on reading it, but a ding to alert her of a new message made her ignore it again. The new message was from Hylo titled ‘Unhappy Returns’. Raising an eyebrow she opened it, and the massage made the other eyebrow shoot up as well. “He’s still alive?” She muttered before putting the pad down and covering her face with her hands and closing her eyes and sighing in thought.

                “What’s wrong?” Theron asked, placing a hand on her arm.

                “Hylo sent me a message. I guess one of her men in Nar Shaddaa has been hearing from Skavak. Asking around about me.”

                “The smuggler? The one that stole your ship?”

                Kara nodded, “And Caleb’s father. Yes.” She rubbed the back of her neck with both hands, “I should probably go, see what he wants. If he’s going through all this trouble to find me, might as well hear him out.”

                “And if he tries killing you again?” Lana asked.

                “We’ll figure that out when we get there.”

                “I’ll go with you.” Arcann spoke up.

                Theron eyed him before nodding, “Good idea. You might need the muscle.” He grinned, kissing her before she could protest. “I’ll keep my ears open, see if there’s anything mentioning him, I’ll send it your way. Just be careful. Both of you.”

                She nodded, “We’ll be fine. It’s probably just a false alarm.”

                “All the same.”

                She kissed him again before turning and motioning for Arcann to follow. The pair headed out to the hangar and boarded her ship in relative silence. Although Arcann had reached over to grab Kara’s hand as soon as they had gotten onto the elevator to her landing pad. She prepped the ship, and brought them out to the vast open space above Odessen before the freighter hit the hyperlanes with no problems.

                “What will you do when you see him?” Arcann asked.

                Kara shrugged, “I’m not sure. I’ll see what he wants, accommodate him how I can if needed. The usual BS.”

                He chuckled, “The plight of a leader.”

                “It’s the hardest part of the job, honestly.” She laughed too. Kara would be the first to admit that she liked this, the comfortable familiarity that she had built with Arcann. It had hurt to lose that when she had told him how she felt about him. But now she could feel it again, and it made her smile.

                She sighed as she watched the stars fly by, letting her arms hang down on the sides of the chair. The feeling of cold metal made her glance over, seeing Arcann had reached over to grab her hand with his left. “Not such a fun job to go on. Having to keep me out of trouble.” She grinned as she gripped his hand.

                “I couldn’t ask for a better assignment.” He smirked at her, “Gives us a chance to be alone.”

                “I like the sound of that too.” She looked at him thoughtfully, “That’s a cute shirt by the way. Though you don’t seem the type to own something like that.” She laughed as he shook his head.

                “It’s Koren’s. He lent it to me since I didn’t have anything else this morning.”

                “That explains it.” She was obviously entertained. “I wonder how many of those he has.”

                “Too many, I’m sure.”

                They spent the rest of the trip to the smuggler’s moon chatting about various topics, some of her adventures on Nar Shaddaa from before they had met, what it was like learning from Koren, Theron being overprotective after the traitor had attacked,but nothing too personal. They kept that for another time, when they could just sit and talk.

                Kara dropped the ship out of hyperspace and sent in her docking request, parking her freighter in its designated location. Again, she couldn’t help but marvel at how little had changed.

                The message from Hylo had said that Skavak would be at the cantina on the promenade so that’s where they headed first. She scanned the crowds of people for him, but couldn’t spot anyone who looked remotely close to him. But at the bar they found a small model of her ship.

                Kara picked it up, turning it in her hands, “The Ik’aad? It’s even got the same dings.” There were coordinates on the back. “Great, he’s taking us on an egg hunt. Guess this is our next stop.”

                The trip was quick enough, the coordinates were still on the promenade, just a floor up. Sitting at a closed shop were two more familiar items.

                “A head in a jar?” Arcann asked, narrowing his eyes at it.

                “It was one of the things I delivered. I’m fairly sure that’s the fake Skavak turned in right before I showed up. And this.” She picked up a gem that was on the counter. “Was a fake ruby that he had used to trick the Empire into trading with him. I think I had them in storage on my ship before I was gone. I hadn’t thought to check to see if they were still there.”

                “There’s another set of coordinates on the head.”

                Kara grumbled and entered them into her datapad. “Another stop then. I swear I’m going to shoot him in the leg whether or not he’s here to pick a fight. At least it’s the casino this time.”

                The pair took a speeder up to one of the two casinos that floated high in the air near the promenade. They made their way through the crowds, a few people looked at them with barely concealed surprise, likely due to recognizing one or both of them as they passed. Nobody bothered them, something Kara was grateful of, the last thing they needed was someone picking a fight because they were drunk and thought it’d be a good idea to try and fight the former emperor turned Alliance advisor or the Commander of the Alliance herself.

                Walking past the bar she glanced over at it, before nudging Arcann. When he looked over at her she grinned and gestured to the bar, “After this, want to grab a drink? My treat.” She winked at him.

                He chuckled at that, “Sounds good. It would be nice to just sit before going back to Odessen.”

                “I agree.”

                They went up the steps leading to a backroom where there were plenty more patrons scattered around. A chill made Kara pull her gun, holding it up and ready to fire if needed, Arcann unclipped his lightsaber, but he didn’t ignite the blade for the time being. Scanning the crowd, Kara once again couldn’t find Skavak. A sound made her turn, and she kept her gun steady, pointing it at the person who had approached, but the familiar faces in front of her made her lower the weapon.

                “Corso? Risha?” She said, before putting her gun away.

                “In the flesh, Captain.” Risha smiled at her, looking every bit the stuck up princess that she remembered. Corso practically beamed at her next to Risha’s side.

                “Friends of yours?” Arcann asked, putting his lightsaber back on his belt.

                “Yeah, they were part of my crew before...” She answered before she turned her attention back to the pair before them. “I can’t believe you two, using Skavak’s name to trick me into coming out here. I thought.” She paused, shaking her head, “Why didn’t you come to me directly.”

                “We couldn’t be sure it was really you. We’ve been in hiding for a while since the war on Dubrillion took a turn for the worst.” Risha shook her head. “They kill Rineld, so I dropped off the radar with Corso.”

                “We’ve been using Skavak’s name to steer clear of pursuit and make some credits, and then after Vaylin attacked Dubrillion...” Corso continued.

                “So now I’ve lost my throne before I even had a chance to retake it. Likely for the best, politics never really came well to me.” Risha shrugged. “I miss Rineld, I won’t lie, but at least what’s left of our people aren’t under control of some inept leader any longer.”

                “But now we’re free to do what we want now without hiding. If you need a crew, or?” Corso asked.

                Kara grinned, “There’s always room on my ship for the two of you. I’m sure Bowdaar and Gus will love to see you guys again.”

                They returned her smile with ones of their own before Corso spoke up, “If I could have a moment, Captain?”

                “Sure. Everything alright?” She asked, as he led her away to speak with her privately, leaving Arcann alone with Risha.

                The scarred prince fiddled with his shirt, not for the first time regretting not changing into his armor, stained or not. He was still wearing the tanktop Koren had lent him with a leather jacket that Kara had had on her ship. Based on the fit, he was fairly certain it was one of Theron’s. He did his best to keep to himself, avoiding initiating a conversation with Risha, but after a minute or two she eventually spoke up.

                “Have you been working with the Captain for a while?” She asked.

                “Yes.” He answered simply. He watched Kara speaking to Corso. It was good that she was able to reunite with some of her friends, being surrounded by so many unfamiliar people on Odessen couldn’t’ve been good for her, and she looked happy to see them.

                “You know you look familiar.” Risha said, following his line of sight for a moment before scanning the crowds. Arcann didn’t take it as a desire to leave, but rather a habit from being on the run for so long. “Have we met before, or?”

                “I don’t believe we have. Not in person at least. My name’s Arcann.” He introduced. He glanced at her as she made a familiar sound of recognition of his name.

                “Ah yes. The Emperor, Arcann.” She narrowed her eyes at him, “You’re hard to recognize without the mask. And with the new clothes.” She gave him a haughty smirk, “A Hello Nexu shirt doesn’t exactly suit you.”

                He gave her a half hearted glare. “It belongs to a friend of mine.”

                “Hm.” She turned her attention away from him. She seemed like she was going to say more but just let it go for the time being.

                Arcann turned his attention back to watching his Commander talk with Corso. They appeared to have been catching up at first, but now she looked almost uncomfortable as he spoke. When Corso took her hands he could feel his eye twitch and his blood pressure spike in annoyance. He kept his face as neutral as he could manage, but he didn’t relax until he saw her pull her hands away suddenly. A feeling of smug satisfaction at the look of rejection that crossed Corso’s face before it was quickly replaced by a sad smile.

                Whether or not she had been with Corso previously hadn’t initially crossed Arcann’s mind, he knew that she had had a good handful of lovers in the past, but that had been in the past. All that mattered is that she was with him and Theron. But the thought she might get swept off her feet by a former flame gnawed at him. That he might lose her so soon after their relationship had begun. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he hadn’t noticed that they had rejoined their group until Kara had put her hand on his arm.

                She looked up at him, concern plain on her face, “Are you alright?”

                He looked down at her in surprise before giving her a smile, “Fine. Was just thinking.”

                “Hmmm, anything in particular?” She had grabbed one of his hands, gripping it firmly in hers as she gave him a sly smile, likely already knowing what he was thinking, and trying to distract him from it.

                He glanced up toward Corso a moment, “Just wondering what you were like before we met.”

                “Oh, now that is a topic for another time. I did promise you a drink after all.” She grinned before turning her attention back to her friends, “Let’s get something to drink before we head home, and I’ll give you guys the rundown of everything that’s happened while you were gone. How does that sound?”

                “Sound perfect, Captain.” Corso started for the door, with Risha, Kara and Arcann right behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I originally did this recruit on Kara it was after Theron had gone all traitor so she had dragged Arcann all over nar shaddaa. I really felt like she would've gotten in contact with them a lot sooner, since between Lana, Theron and Hylo, it shouldn't've taken that long to find them, especially if they had been using Skavak's name as they had claimed. But I also didn't want to change her dragging him from clue to clue either, so we got this instead. With some minor changes to the conversation with Risha and Corso.  
> She is also my first character that i did a full playthrough on pub side, so she went through every single mission chain on every single planet, and you can bet she flirted with Jace everytime the option came up. She's just like that. Plus she kinda digged him, and there was no way she would've taken his "if I was 25 years younger and we weren't at war" as an excuse to not get a drink. Not a chance.
> 
> -I will get back to the encrypted message. Promise. ;)
> 
> As always, comments and reviews are appreciated!  
> Hope you enjoyed!!


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